


Mouse Trap

by MemoryDragon



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), Torchwood
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Because I do like hurting him, Body Swap, Crack, He does not enjoy being deleted, How many times can Peri and Erimem try to escape before being rescued?, Hurt/Comfort, Ianto torment, Jack enjoys programing dirty things, M/M, Sadly it backfires, The Doctor is trying to help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-27
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-16 16:43:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoryDragon/pseuds/MemoryDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is acting strangely, leaving the rest of his team baffled by his odd mood. But when it comes to light how much danger he's really in, it's up to Gwen and Ianto to save him with the help of an odd stranger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Doctor Who (both Classic Who characters and characters from the audio plays), nor do I make any claim to.  
>  **Warnings:** There are a good many references to the Torchwood books (Most of them from Almost Perfect), but you don't need to have read the novels to get this. Just know that Ianto was turned into a girl for a good majority for that book and lots of awkwardness ensued. This is a cross over with classic Doctor Who, most specifically the Big Finish audio plays. Again, you really don't need to have listened to them to understand what's going on, but I did steal the bad guy from one of the audios. I suppose I should mention there is a heck of a lot of Ianto torture in later parts, but that should probably have been a given...  
>  **Author's Thanks:** Many thanks once again to Cyropi for betaing for me. I don't know what I'd do without her.
> 
>  **Originally Posted:** Feb. 27th, 2011

Gwen Cooper really hadn't meant to be late that morning. She had woken up right and proper for once, getting out of bed when her alarm rang the first time. She brushed her teeth, took a shower and got dressed with no problems or curses thrown at the clock. Then she was half undressed again by the obnoxious scamp she called her husband as Rhys attempted to draw her back into bed for some tongue dueling. Twenty minutes later the curses started flying every which way as she caught sight of the clock again, much to Rhys' amusement. After one more quick snog, Gwen fixed her hair and shirt before racing out the door.

It was the best she could hope for that Jack still hadn't returned from checking out that temporal trace in Swansea last night. Which would probably mean more work in the long run if he _still_ wasn't back, but it might be something new, something exciting, something that thrilled her and terrified her at the same time, reminding her of why she loved her job. It might also be something so horrible that it would shake her to the core, but Gwen always preferred to remain positive. If it happened, she would deal with it. Until then, Jack was hopefully still off investigating something potentially exciting so he wouldn't be there to remark on her general tardiness for the fourth time this week. It was a particularly bad streak, even for her.

However, if he was still gone, Ianto would be discreet about it, especially if she made it up to him later by helping with some of the more mundane of his duties. He always appreciated that, so he could get a bit more time with Jack in the evening, if whatever it was their immortal boss had gone to check on hadn't been overly threatening. And even if it were, the poor dear had nearly worked himself to the bone with trying to fill both Owen and Tosh's shoes since their deaths. A bit guiltily, Gwen realized for the umpteenth time that she should help him out more often than just for bribes. But there was never any time and something _always_ came up... She honestly didn't know how Ianto managed it all.

The problem with getting into the Hub, she thought as the sirens and lights of the cog door announced her arrival to anyone in the underground base, was that there was no way to enter it inconspicuously. It was impossible to sneak in and hope no one noticed she was late. Security purposes, Jack said, but Gwen secretly suspected it was so he could tease people who were habitually late like her, or see how hungover Owen...

Pushing the sharp pang of loss aside, Gwen smiled gratefully as Ianto appeared with a steaming cup of coffee, almost making up for everyone knowing that she had just walked in. It had the exact amount of milk she liked and tasted exquisite, as always. "Bless you," she told him with a smile, taking a blissful drink as she savored the taste. God, what would she do without Ianto's coffee every morning? It hardly bore thinking about. "Has Jack returned?" she asked, the wonderful feeling of caffeine running through her veins and boosting her cheer in the face of Jack's knowing smirk.

Ianto nodded, but before he could answer, Jack himself came out from one of the storage halls. The immortal didn't look over at them once as he walked, fiddling with some bit of alien tech he'd picked up - not one Gwen recognized. He looked up briefly as he walked past to smile absently before returning to his office and shutting the door. 

It was so unlike Jack that Gwen stared openly. No greeting, no teasing, appreciative once over like he was contemplating a Da Vinci master piece... Jack _always_ gave anyone who fell under his umbrella term 'attractive' (generally anyone who walked by) an appreciative once over, including those he saw every day like herself. Gwen had long since suspected Jack was also carefully assessing any danger or threat the person might pose as well, though with Jack there was no doubt a bit of mental undressing was going on too. It certainly wasn't all a cover and it was non-threatening and flattering for the most part. Gwen had stopped feeling embarrassed over it after the first week. Never once since she'd known Jack had he shown that much disinterest in a humanoid (and occasionally non-humanoid) body. "That chronon energy source he went to check out," she asked slowly, "was it dangerous, do you think?"

Ianto shrugged, just as baffled by their boss' behavior as she was. "I think whatever it is has just distracted him. He'll probably come out of it in a bit and be back to his old self by the afternoon." His blue eyes betrayed far less surety than his voice and a lot more worry with a hint of something Gwen couldn't put her finger on, however.

"I'm sure he will," Gwen assured him automatically, reaching out and touching his arm comfortingly. "He'd tell us if it were something really serious. Let's give him a day and see what happens."

Ianto met her gaze for a moment, silently confirming her suspicion that he was far from reassured, but he knew better than to argue with Gwen. Especially when there really was nothing either of them could do and he'd never been one to make much of a fuss over anything. "Come on," she said, giving his arm another encouraging squeeze. "I'll help you with that report for UNIT."

Once Ianto was sufficiently distracted from the worry, Gwen left him for her own duties of scanning police reports for anything unusual and preparing her own weekly status report for Jack.

The rest of the day went along quietly enough. There was a report that sounded like a Weevil sighting, which Ianto took care of after Jack made it known he was too busy and a minor rift spike that turned out to be nothing when Gwen checked the area. Nothing big or scary coming to destroy earth today, no thrills. Just a quiet catch-up from the last major emergency and some cheerful banter with Ianto to keep the poor lamb's spirits up. In a silent thanks for her efforts, Gwen found a chocolate bar on her desk after lunch. It was a typical Ianto gesture, finding just the kind she liked -with a bit of caramel to make it stick to the roof of her mouth- and placing it invisibly on her desk so she couldn't thank _him_ properly for the thought, knowing she'd probably be too distracted the next time she saw him to remember it. 

When she left that day, Ianto said he was going to stay behind a little longer to get a bit more work done. Gwen knew the truth, that he would be testing the waters with Jack and hoping for a bit of sex and/or an explanation, but she didn't comment. She hopped for his sake that Jack's strange attitude would blow over soon.

The next day she made it to work a little earlier than usual, quietly making up for her previous tardiness. The atmosphere in the Hub was almost as tense as it could get in emergency situations and was it her imagination or did the temperature drop a degree or two when Ianto walked in? His usual polite and quiet manner took on a near imperceptible iciness that Gwen had come to associate with him being angry. 

Ever since the incident with Lisa, Gwen had taken it upon herself to watch the young man more carefully, learning to read his moods. His words about none of them caring had struck her in particular quite hard and with both Tosh and Owen gone... She couldn't take her co-workers and friends for granted any more. So she had watched him, learned to tell when he was upset or fighting with Jack, and sometimes meddling when she shouldn't, much to his embarrassment. At the end of the day, however, there were always little things like the chocolate bar which he had to express himself when he felt too awkward otherwise.

He ignored the few probing questions she sent his way, however, so Gwen settled into work as usual. There was a bit of a mix up with an artifact that UNIT had requested access to, which Gwen took care of easily enough as Ianto had looked busy and Jack was still locked in his office. The Rift was quiet, almost as if it were as afraid of Jack's odd mood as they were. Which was a silly notion all together, but he was certainly starting to scare Gwen with his odd behavior. He just wasn't acting at all like Jack normally did, hiding away and ignoring everyone. Even his body language was different. Not any less confident, but so much less flashy. Quieter.

The third day she came in, there was a tension in Ianto's shoulders that meant a fight with Jack. Since her attempt to corner Jack failed completely, Gwen did the only other thing she could think of to bring back peace to the Hub. She pounced on Ianto the next time he brought her coffee. 

"What happened with him?" she asked flatly, not bothering to politely beat around the bush. The tension in the Hub was starting to get unbearable and she wanted it gone. 

Ianto looked startled at her bluntness, but quickly pulled out a polite smile to cover for his momentary lapse. "I don't know what you mean."

After handing her the coffee, Ianto automatically started to make for the door, very obviously not wanting to be having this conversation. Gwen was having none of that, however. Jack might be able to slip away each time, but Gwen was positive the Welshman would buckle with a bit of pressure. So she grabbed his arm, half dragging the man to the nearest chair and sat him down for a proper interrogation. "Jack is acting stranger than ever and the two of you got into a fight over it, yeah?"

Ianto looked away, searching for an escape route but finding none. Giving up, he fell into a brooding silence. A silence that wasn't going to get Gwen any answers, she noted with annoyance. "Ianto-"

"No offense, Gwen, but my personal life is weird enough without having to share every little spat with a co-worker," he said glumly, cutting her off before she could elaborate on reasons talking would be good for him.

"Yeah, but this isn't a normal fight, Ianto," she said, falling back into the good cop role as she wheeled over another chair and took his hands. "Look, the atmosphere around the Hub is driving me nuts, Jack hasn't come out of this odd mood and my _friend_ is being hurt by all of this. Maybe if we put our heads together we can figure out what's wrong. Just tell me what happened?"

Ianto stared at their linked hands without really seeing them, but he debated how much trouble it would be to fight her on this. Finally, he gave in. She gave his hands a squeeze as he started speaking miserably. "I don't _know_ what happened, Gwen. I don't. I've tried thinking about what I might have done, but I can't..."

Bless. The poor lamb was taking Jack's odd mood like this was all his fault! "Just tell me what happened," she said in her most sympathetic voice. 

"I brought him up some coffee last night and asked if he might need anything else or... well..." He didn't elaborate further past the 'or' and it was fairly obvious what followed the conjunction. It was kind of cute how Ianto wanted to pretend she'd miss the fact he wanted sex if he simply didn't say it out loud. "He just started to snap at me. Told me to just go home and leave him alone. Then when I asked him about how he was acting, he just shuffled me out of the room and locked the door, saying he couldn't think with..."

"With what?" she asked encouragingly, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hands.

"'With a insufferable idiot who keeps interrupting him every five minutes,'" Ianto quoted softly, his face flushing with anger and shame even as his voice hardened with fury and hurt. "Yes, I've been hanging around a bit to try and figure out what's wrong but..."

For her part, Gwen was truly shocked to hear Jack's words. Calling _Ianto_ an idiot so callously... and without any real cause when he was the one who was making everyone worry! "He actually said that?" she asked after he went silent, still numb.

"He did." The anger had drained out of him, leaving Ianto with a very pathetic figure. His tone took on a rough quality to it that Gwen had learned to associate with him being very upset. "I know... I know Jack is different. I know that. A relationship with an immortal would never be normal." He paused after that, half afraid of going on, but Gwen gave his hands another gentle squeeze. "But... I haven't done anything, have I?"

"Of course you haven't," she said as convincingly as possible. Ianto wasn't the problem here. "Ianto, _Jack_ is the one acting weird, not you. He's the one at fault right now, though I can't for the life of me think of why he's acting like this..."

"It's not just that though. Jack..." Ianto's eyes darkened as he shook his head, not really seeing Gwen sitting across from him anymore. "He'll never love me in the same way I love him. I accept that. It was... amazing, just to have him love me the way he can. But now... It's like he's completely lost interest! I don't even exist to him any more, except as an annoyance!" He was growing steadily more agitated as he went on, his eyes looking a little wet as he blinked furiously. 

She'd had no idea... Ianto had admitted to her before how seriously he felt about the immortal when they'd all been trapped in that damned temporal mess of a house, Jackson Leaves, but this... "Gwen, what's wrong with him?" He asked suddenly, actually seeing her again, pleading with her for an answer she couldn't give him. "Why is he acting like this? I want... I want the old Jack back."

"Oh, Ianto. I don't-"

"I'm sorry," he said as he stood up, rubbing his eyes furiously. Damn. She'd said or hadn't said the right thing, because now he was closing up again quicker than she could blink. He must have decided he'd already said too much. "I shouldn't've... Just forget it. I'm fine, really."

"Ianto, this isn't-" _your fault_ was what she was going to say, but Ianto was already leaving the room as fast as his feet could carry him.

Debating following after him, Gwen gave a sigh and decided it was just better to let her coworker be for now. She turned and ran straight into their immortal boss who was failing rather obviously in his attempt to look like he hadn't been eavesdropping. He shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly as Gwen placed her hands on her hips and glared. "I take it you heard that?"

"Bits," Jack admitted, looking embarrassed by the whole thing, though from shame or getting caught, Gwen couldn't say.

"Jack what the hell is all this about?" she demanded.

"Sorry? I don't know-"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Gwen advanced upon him as her anger and frustrations grew. Not even her surprise as Jack took a step back diminished her fury. "Why are you acting like this? It's almost like you're a completely different person ever since you got back from checking that chronon signature. What happened out there?"

Jack remained silent, not looking at her. Finally, she threw her hands up in disgust. "Fine. Don't tell me. But you could at least explain to Ianto why you're suddenly decided on being a callous _bastard_."

 _That_ got a guilty response as his eyes flickered over to the spot Ianto had recently vacated. Jack opened his mouth to say something, then stopped and pulled his hands out of his pockets to rub his temples. "Is he alright?" he asked with a small wince. "He wasn't... crying or anything? I would hate to-" Again, he paused, thinking his words over. there was something about his cadence and how he pronounced the words that was just slightly off, but Gwen was far to furious to even begin to think about that. 

"You should know the answer to that yourself!" she cut in, not waiting for him to continue. "Jack, what the fuck is wrong you?!"

"Is that language really necessary?" he asked testily.

Gwen simply stared at him in shock. "You called _Ianto_ an 'insufferable idiot' and you're telling me to watch my tongue?" Word choice aside, Jack's response had been the far more hurtful one. And since when had he taken exception to cursing? He wasn't overly prone to it himself, she knew, but he'd never commented on it before unless he was joking.

"Now look here, I-" Jack closed his eyes, held his breath for a moment, then attempted to smile tightly as he let the breath out. "Would you mind talking with him? I'm awfully busy right now and things will-"

"You can go fuck yourself, Jack Harkness."

It was Gwen's turn to storm out of the room, leaving the openly gaping Jack behind. Talk to Ianto _for_ him? That was an all time low, right there and it pissed her off to no end. Gwen had never thought of her boss as cowardly, but she was awfully close to it right now.

Both Ianto and Jack avoided her for the rest of the day. Well, that was fine. She only had sympathy for Ianto, but Jack she didn't _want_ to see again for at least a week.

After work, she went to the location Jack had logged with the chronon spike before he'd left to investigate. It was, much to her dismay, a fairly normal street corner. There were several very nice flats up to the right and a little grocery down the street along with a quaint little bookstore, but no one she asked remembered anyone like Jack's description. Since Jack was far from the most inconspicuous man on the planet and easily recognized, she could only assume he really hadn't been there and whatever it was that caused the spike was long gone. 

By the time she got home, she was fuming and Rhys wisely stayed silent as she vented. Then he gave her a back massage, bless the man. She couldn't even begin to deserve him.

* * *

Ianto was trying very hard to just work on autopilot. A polite smile as he greeted Gwen and Jack, handing over their respective coffees, a blank mind as he picked up the remnants of the lunch he and Gwen had shared (Jack hadn't come down once and the food Ianto had left for him remained largely untouched), a complete focus on the task at hand, and refusing to let his attention wander from any report he was working on kept him sane. It was just like after Lisa's death, trying to make it through the day without breaking down and letting the others know how hollow he felt. 

It was mostly working. Gwen wasn't fooled and she was still trying to comfort him, but she understood when he needed some space to just shut down. In some ways, it was harder than after Lisa's death, because now people took notice of him. Even with only Gwen left, she payed far more attention to him than she ever had before. Which was good, because he really did appreciate her attempts to cheer him up, but they were constant reminders of the fact there was something wrong with Jack.

He'd been giving the immortal a wide berth since the 'incident' two nights ago, only coming into contact with him to hand Jack his coffee and deliver lunch. For one, he was still angry with the man who had made no attempt at apologizing for snapping at him. Maybe he wasn't as good as Tosh at writing programs and working bits of alien tech, but he most certainly wasn't an idiot. That was no way to talk to one's boyfriend either. That _hurt_ , hearing Jack call him that. For another... it was just painful being around Jack. No longer did Jack's eyes follow him as he walked into the room, nor did the immortal catch his hand a moment longer than necessary as he passed over the mug. Gwen was right - Jack was one acting strangly and maybe this wasn't his fault, but...

Ianto stared at the computer screen blankly. Gwen had told him about her useless trip to the site of the chronon readings. He didn't tell her he'd already checked around, attempting to find out for himself. Jack briefly appeared in the CCTV cameras walking by, but there was no other sign of Jack that night. Where ever he had been, it wasn't any place with cameras that Torchwood had access to. 

Giving himself ten more minutes of trying to get this report done, Ianto decided to just ditch it for the time being. He gave a quiet sigh as he rubbed his eyes with the base of his palms. Powering down the computer, Ianto decided to just go back to his flat. Gwen had invited him over to dinner but... Well, he didn't want to intrude and the last time he'd been over was still a bit of an embarrassment. It wasn't like he'd _asked_ to be in the body of a perfect woman at the time. No, he'd just go home and find something to do. Maybe a movie? He'd tried that last night and it had worked to a certain extent. It had been distracting enough, even though he didn't have the foggiest idea what the plot of it had been.

Spinning his chair around, Ianto was surprised to see Jack standing next to him. Had he really been that out of it not to notice him there? "I thought you didn't want me around," he said bitterly, anger festering up again.

Jack at least had the decency to wince at that. "It was a poor choice of words... I'm sorry for that and calling you an idiot. I was frustrated."

Ianto couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but there was something off about how Jack spoke. And the fact that Jack was apologizing... it was a bit late for him to be doing it. However, Ianto found he didn't care so much now that he had the apology. Some part of him knew he was letting the immortal off the hook too easy, but right now he just wanted things back to normal. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, but nodded to Jack. Did this mean they were good again? "It's... fine, Jack. Just... No, it is fine. I probably over reacted a little."

Smiling brightly, Jack's expression had an uncharacteristic openness that nearly took Ianto's breath away. Oh, Ianto had missed the physical part of their relationship. Did this mean they were set for some make-up sex? He hoped so.

Unfortunately, Jack quickly dashed his hopes of getting into Jack's bed that night. "Splendid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should get back to-"

"Jack, wait." Ianto lightly grabbed the immortal's arm, standing up so they were eye level. Jack didn't react by moving closer, however. In fact, the man tried to put as much distance between them as possible, like a polite stranger who thought Ianto was being entirely too forward. 

Ianto let go of his lover's arm in shock. What just happened? Hesitantly, the Welshman tried to reach out to Jack's face with a small caress and this time Jack literally _did_ back away, looking flustered. "Ah, look. I've really got to get back to work now. So much to do. There's never enough time to get things down and I should know being... Well. If you'll excuse me?" he asked, looking every where but at the hurt and betrayal he saw in Ianto's face. 

For his part, Ianto stared numbly at the babbling Jack, his mind endlessly playing back Jack's half panicked flinch when Ianto had touched him. "Is it something I've done?" Ianto asked with a stricken tone, scarcely believing what was happening. 

Jack was the one who gave him new meaning in his life after Lisa's death. Even after that betrayal, Jack had never pushed Ianto away like this. He'd let Ianto keep his job, staying on despite the almost endless loss that would have engulfed him had he been on his own. And Jack, almost completely unaware of what he was doing to his young lover, simply sighed in frustration. "No, it's not that. This isn't anything you've... Look, this isn't working."

It was funny how a few simple words could completely shatter him. Ianto very suddenly couldn't breathe properly, like his chest had constricted and he couldn't hold enough air in his lungs for his body to function. "What are you saying, Jack? Do you mean that we're... Do you want to end this?"

"Yes." He paused a moment, as if rethinking the question. "No, what are... _Oh_! That's... I mean, you're... Oh, my. Look, if you'll just let me explain."

Jack was getting more and more uncharacteristically flustered, but Ianto was reeling too much to notice either that or the slip in Jack's accent. "I'd rather you didn't explain, if you don't mind," Ianto said quietly, blinking back tears. Maybe eventually he would want to know why Jack broke up with him, but right now that information was too much for him to handle. Sinking back down into his chair, Ianto vaguely realized that he should probably say something. But what do you say when the person you adored more than anything else in the world suddenly wanted to break off the relationship? "Just leave me alone for a while, please," he said, not sure what he was going to do but being away from Jack would help. No. No, it wouldn't, but he could pretend it would for now.

"If you would just listen-"

"Just leave, Jack. Please." Ianto didn't want to hear it. He just wanted to crawl away some where and sob until he ran out of tears. 

"But I need to-"

"Just go!" Ianto said more forcefully. "Go back to whatever it is that you've been so busy with lately! I'm _fine_ so just go away and-"

"Would you just _be quiet_!" 

He was so shocked by Jack's outburst that Ianto simply obeyed, looking up at the immortal in surprise. "Thank you," Jack said, and it slowly occurred to Ianto that Jack wasn't speaking with his usual American accent. It threw him further off balance and his stressed brain could only take so much. "Now if you would kindly just _listen_ to me, you would know that this is all one big misunderstanding. I know I look like him right now, but I am not Jack Harkness. So you see-"

There was a soft click as the safety on a gun was taken off and Ianto looked over to see Gwen standing there with the barrel of her gun pointed right at Jack's head. "Then who the hell are you?" she asked coldly.

~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quote of the chapter, quite possibly giving some insight as to why the impostor stayed hidden for so long...
> 
> "Everyone lies Michael, the innocent lie because they don't want to be blamed for something they did not do. The guilty lie because they don't have any other choice. Find out why he is lying and the rest will take care of it's self."  
> -Jeffrey Sinclair, Babylon 5


	2. Chapter Two

  


"Who are you?" Gwen asked coldly. Ianto flushed and immediately started to rub the moisture out of his eyes. How long had she been standing there? That was the last thing he needed, was Gwen listening in as Jack broke up with him. 

"I assure you, young lady, that this is entirely unnecessary," Jack said, any trace of the more than decent impression of an American accent gone now, replaced with an English one. Ianto simply looked back and forth between the two at a complete loss for what to do. He was glad to be sitting down, because he had started trembling and that was much less noticeable when you weren't standing. 

Gwen was trembling as well, but with fury instead of loss and emotional overload. "You come in here, fuck with our heads then say this gun isn't 'necessary'? Who the hell are you?" 

Jack - or the impostor Jack, Ianto's mind reminded itself, still trying to sort through the shock and make sense of everything - held his hands up in surrender and tired to look as non-threatening as possible. "I assure you, I'm unarmed and I've been here for days already. If I had intended to hurt either of you, I would have already done so." 

"Then we can both take a trip down to the cells and you can stay down there until you start answering my questions." Gwen was obviously in no mood for small talk and had no problem doing bodily harm to whoever this was to get what she wanted. 

Which meant Ianto really needed to snap out of it and try to talk some sense into her, as much as he did appreciate her anger on his behalf. "Gwen, wait," he said, swallowing heavily as he tried to get his emotions under control. She didn't take her eyes of the impostor, but she nodded in acknowledgment. So he needed... to persuade her? Of what? It was so hard to keep his thoughts organized enough to think coherently, much less speak. "He... he has a point, Gwen. He'd have hurt us by now if that was his intent. He came down to try and patch things up with me, so... He doesn't seem that bad?" 

It was a rather lame finish, but he hoped it was enough to convince her. Though, maybe he should let her take the impostor away right now, just so he could have a good cry over in the corner to get this out of his system and refresh himself a bit. No, he couldn't, regardless of how much he wanted to. Because if the impostor were here, that probably meant the real Jack as in trouble. If he wanted his Jack back - and oh, did he want the real Jack right now - they needed to find out more about this one. "Let's just listen to what he has to say?" he asked quietly. 

Gwen didn't lower her gun, but she motioned for the impostor to take a seat. "Start talking," she ordered, not letting up in the slightest. 

"You could try learning some manners for... Yes, yes, alright. I get the picture." The impostor sat down, clearly not happy with the gun still pointing at him but unable to really do anything to change it. "It seems to me we've all gotten off on the wrong foot. I can assure you that I haven't done anything to the real Captain Harkness. I've just been trying to help him." 

"You still haven't told us your name," Gwen said, taking up the questioning. Ianto was more than willing to let her take control of the conversation, as it gave him a chance to sort through everything that had just happened in the past few minutes. He had just about come to terms with everything that Jack being an impostor over the last few days implied and found the results a little embarrassing. How could he not have noticed... Well, they had technically noticed Jack was acting oddly, but that didn't mean Ianto had to go and make a fool out of himself in front of... whoever this was. 

Whoever this was, as Gwen pointed out, still hadn't given them a name. "Can we skip the name bit? It's a bit embarrassing in this condition after what happened and..." Gwen's eyes narrowed as she nodded her head toward the gun as a silent reminder of her impatience. The impostor Jack simply sighed. "You can call me the Doctor," he said testily. 

"Doctor who?" Ianto heard himself ask, grateful that his voice was back under control. 

"Just the Doctor. And you two would be Gwen and Ianto, yes? It's a pleasure to be finally properly introduced," the man said, holding out his hand. Neither Ianto nor Gwen took it, however, instead sharing a glance. The Doctor? Jack's Doctor? "Ah," the Doctor said uncomfortably. "I see that while Captain Harkness may have known me, you both don't. That does make things more difficult..." 

Gwen had been wavering with the gun, but steadied her aim at this statement. "Wouldn't you know about that?" 

Coughing politely, the Doctor shook his head. "It's rather complicated, I'm afraid. I travel through time and space and that can lead to meeting people out of order." 

"Convenient excuse." 

The Doctor - if that was indeed who the impostor was - looked about ready to snap at Gwen, but Ianto was getting his bearings back and intervened before things got out of hand. "Maybe if you described what you usually look like?" 

"That's..." the Doctor started as he fidgeted. "You'll find that to be just another 'convenient excuse', unfortunately. My appearance changes from time to time and I'm not sure which regeneration you're familiar with." 

That was a convenient excuse, but a true one from what Jack had told him, Ianto realized. There was really no way to verify his identity, however. Again, he held a silent conference with Gwen and he shrugged, uncertain of what they should do. "Why don't you just explain how you look exactly like Jack," Gwen said finally, still never taking the gun off him. 

"That is what I've been trying to do, but I keep being threatened, interrupted and- alright, yes. You don't have to wave that around quite so violently... I'll tell you what happened." 

* * * 

For as long as he had been traveling the galaxy and the space beyond, one would think the Doctor would take lessons from the likes of Houdini. Even Jo Grant could have taught him a few things about 'escapology' and he did have a terrible habit of ending up chained and imprisoned. The knowledge would have been quite useful, especially in cases like right now when he was strapped to a chair and about to be used as a computer matrix by a megalomaniac with a vendetta against him. The machine to turn his brain into the Time Lord equivalent of binary stood menacingly pointing at him with wires and bits of his own TARDIS sticking out haphazardly. There was also a laser gun off to the side that didn't look very friendly either, also pointed at him. Over all, the Doctor felt very much trapped. 

His companions, Peri and Erimem, had also been captured and were imprisoned elsewhere in this dreary establishment. They were resourceful, but the Doctor didn't count on them being able to break free and rescue him out of... wherever this was. Erimem was an accomplished fighter, but their captor knew that and had several big thugs to guard them; more than even she could handle. Since he didn't even know where they were other than some large and empty building somewhere in Cardiff, Wales, the Doctor didn't count on being found either. It was an altogether annoying situation to be honest, the Doctor thought as he tugged at the restraints, and just a little embarrassing given who his captor was... 

Not even the current reprieve was helpful. The megalomaniac had been called away just before he'd thrown the switch. There'd apparently been a security breach that needed dealing with, but from the guards' talk the Doctor gathered it had probably been some homeless person off the street and probably not much help to him in his general escape plan. He might have a chance of UNIT coming in for a rescue if they caught wind of the plot, but the megalomaniac in question had been keeping a very low profile to avoid just that. Who would come to Cardiff, anyway? No, the Doctor was no closer to being freed than he was before. Infernal DNA coded locks... 

The computer set up against the side of the wall bleeped at him. That was where his captor wanted to put him, converting his mind into data with the malicious looking contraption that was pointing at him in a threatening manner. There was another unfriendly machine pointing at him that the Doctor had assumed earlier was a laser gun, but the Doctor was trying to put that from his mind. Other than that, the walls of the room were grey and dreary with no windows and only a very small closet off to the side. If the rest of the building were just as bad, he didn't know. This was where he'd woken up, strapped to this chair. Though if the video feed to the cell Erimem and Peri were being kept in were anything to go by, he would hazard a guess that the rest of the facility was just as bare and gloomy. It wouldn't be so bad if there were just a new coat of paint or- 

Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong and coming towards him from the end of the hallway, warping time as it moved. The Doctor tensed, waiting impatiently for whatever new threat was going to attack. Could it be something new his captor had brought to torment him with or the intruder? Either way, it didn't feel like a force for good. 

Movement near the door caught his attention and a broad shouldered man wearing - of all things - a World War II greatcoat. "Doctor?" the man asked uncertainly when he caught sight of him. The man came in the room, carefully looking the Doctor over. It was a pity the Doctor couldn't do the same. It was all he could do to keep smiling pleasantly and not look away as time warped around this strange man, prickling nastily at the back of the Doctor's senses. This man was the cause of the time disturbance? "You are the Doctor, right?" 

"I am, indeed," the Doctor replied, smiling broadly despite the effect on his time sense. He could ignore it if he concentrated and after the initial shock, it wasn't too bad. Besides, if this person knew of him, this could be his ticket out of here. "And you wouldn't happen to be here to help me escape, would you?" 

"I'll see what I can do." The man - American by his accent - returned the smile with a flirty gaze, carefully looking the Doctor over. "Love the new look, by the way, though you could do better than a piece of celery. Pity we don't have time for a bit of fun while you're still in bondage. I can't tell you the ideas it's giving me, Doctor." 

"I beg your pardon?" the Doctor huffed, unable to mistake the oddly dressed American's tone for anything but immodest flirtation. He sputtered for a few minutes before finally being able to speak again, trying _not_ to think about how those eyes trailed over his body. "If you're going to-" 

"This regeneration of yours is a lot stuffier than the last one," the man said with a laugh. "Don't worry. I'll keep my hands to myself... mostly." 

The American started to go over the chair's bonds, but the Doctor wasn't paying attention. He was racking his brain to remember if he'd ever seen this person before. The man certainly seemed to know the Doctor. "Have we met before?" he asked finally, quite puzzled over the anachronistically dressed man. He was sure he'd remember someone who distorted time so obviously that it was almost hard to look at him. 

Surprised, the American's eyes shot up as he stopped fiddling with the cuffs. "Doctor, it's me, Jack. Captain Jack Harkness. I traveled with you and Rose..." 

Neither names rang a bell and a sudden growing dread came over the Doctor. He didn't doubt the sincerity of the man, not when he was obviously trying to help (despite the flirting), which meant... "Oh, dear. It appears that while you've met me, I haven't met you yet. Hazard of time travel. I'm terribly sorry about this..." 

The American's - Jack was what he'd called himself? - expression fell, darkening considerably. "No, I'm sorry. I'd assumed you'd just regenerated again and I should... I'm not supposed to be meeting you like this. And now you know what I am..." The latter was spoken so quietly that the Doctor could only assume that Jack was talking about his inhuman condition. It wasn't just inhuman; a fixed point in time was something that wasn't meant to happen to _anyone_. 

The Doctor considered it for a moment. Whoever this man was, he claimed to have traveled with the Doctor in the past. He didn't let just anyone in his TARDIS and that especially went for people who warped time as badly as Jack did. There were countless laws against this sort of thing, most specifically dealing with knowledge of prior events that made this sort of meeting ever more dangerous... 

Of course, that was all without taking into consideration that the Doctor was cuffed and strapped to a chair and could really use a hand getting out of it. "I've never been one for rules anyway. Just don't tell me anything about my personal future." The Doctor smiled impishly before adding, "Now, if you don't mind getting me out of this?" 

At this Jack grinned back, confidence returning as he toyed with the cuffs. "Looks like it's DNA coded... You have your sonic screwdriver, Doctor? It looks a bit too complicated for me to try and pick on my own." 

"Well... No, I'm afraid I don't." Jack raised an eyebrow and the Time Lord made a serious mental note to do that bit of repair work as soon as he got back to the TARDIS. Whether or not he'd remember five minutes from now was a completely different story... He went on to explain, since Jack was obviously waiting on it. "It was destroyed a while back and I haven't gotten around to making a new one yet. You sure it can't be picked?" 

Jack's eyes returned to the locks, critically poking at it one more time. "Doubtful. These are pretty advanced tech, even for me." Advanced tech for a man in WWII dress... That didn't quite add up, but then, neither did the rest of this man. Jack was hardly all that he seemed. "What are they trying to do to you? Maybe I can sabotage that and wait till they put you in a cell to fix it?" 

"He wants to use-" Footsteps could be heard down the hall, causing the Doctor to fall silent. "Hide!" he whispered to Jack quickly. The American didn't need to be told twice, dashing to the only closet in the room and leaving the door slightly ajar. 

It wasn't his captor returning, however, but simply the hired thugs his foe had employed. One of them poked his head in briefly, looking around and ignoring the Doctor's pleasant smile as he tried to look like he wasn't attempting to escape. After a second more, the thug moved on to check the next spot. 

"It's safe. The guard is gone," he called out softly after the man had moved a sufficient distance away. Jack came out of the closet, narrowly catching a broom he'd knocked over while doing so. After gingerly returning it, Jack looked to the Doctor to finish his earlier explanation. What had they been... oh, yes. The master plan. "He wants use my brain to develop a network like the Matrix back home on Gallifrey. I believe he wants to eventually launch an attack on the Gallifreyan High Council." 

A curious look crossed Jack's face, but it was gone before the Doctor could recognize it. Jack went on speaking before the Doctor could ask. "So if I just smash up this console here, they would-" 

"Could you avoid doing that?" the Doctor asked plaintively, concern filling his voice. "He's raided the TARDIS console to set up the computer and if you overload the circuits the old girl will be useless." He'd had quite enough of being stuck on this planet, despite enjoying returning to it. It was a matter of having the freedom to go elsewhere if he desired and the thought of losing that again was more than he could bear. 

"Okay," Jack said slowly, taking a better look at the console. "So I can't just smash it... can you tell me how to disable it? I've worked on the TARDIS with you before, but this is..." 

"This is even more mismatched then the TARDIS? Yes, it's rather unfortunate. I could explain, but it would take time... which I'm afraid we don't have." Which left the Doctor in a very compromising position, he knew. Considering the nature of his old foe, he really shouldn't be surprise, but that didn't make this situation any less of an... embarrassment. 

Jack was grinning, however, pulling out an old fashioned revolver from under his jacket. "That leaves the direct approach. Don't worry, Doctor. I'm good at this one." 

"Is that really necessary?" Eying the gun - and Jack - in in distaste, the Doctor didn't bother hiding his displeasure. He had hoped his companions knew better than that. "I thought you said you traveled with me before..." 

"I did and I figured you'd say something like that." Good naturedly opening the gun barrel for the Doctor to see, Jack proved to be true to his word. Except for one bullet, the revolver wasn't loaded. "I unloaded it the moment I saw the hired muscle carting off the TARDIS, so you can save the lecture. The one bullet in here will be fired for intimidation, safely not pointing at anyone, I promise." 

It was the Doctor's turn to raise his eyebrows, nodding in grudging approval. This plan could work, provided they could both convincingly bluff. "Right then. Intimidation and bluffing. Sounds like it might work, but we'll have to get Peri and Erimem out as well. They're being held somewhere." 

Jack nodded, formulating the secondary rescue into his plans. He didn't ask who Peri and Erimem were, just assuming they were traveling companions of the Doctor and the Doctor was fairly sure Jack spent at least a few seconds wondering if they'd be attractive. Something about the look on his face tipped the Doctor off to that... "What does this guy look like, so I know who to aim for?" Jack asked, returning his attention to the original subject. "You said this was Gallifreyan technology, right? It's not the Master, is it?" 

Again, an emotion passed over Jack's face that he almost missed, but the Doctor recognized it this time. Jack kept it well hidden, but there had been a moment's fear in his eyes at the thought. 

A fear the Doctor could thankfully put to rest this time. "No, it's not him. It's actually a bit more embarrassing than that." 

As he nodded again, nothing in Jack's body language showed his relief, but there was much more humor in his voice as he perched on the side of the console. "Embarrassing? Do tell, Doctor. Who could not only capture you, but take apart the TARDIS as well?" 

The Doctor didn't appreciate that cocky tone, but he was saved from having to answer as a high pitched voice rang out down the hall. "No time. Just... I suppose you'll see." 

Jack didn't make for the supply closet like the Doctor assumed he would, however. Instead the man grinned as he came towards the Doctor, paying no mind to the increasing volume of approaching megalomaniac. "I know I said I'd keep my hands to myself, Doctor, but you _are_ tied up." With that, he leaned over and kissed the very surprised and sputtering Time Lord, admittedly chastely because of the lack of time. 

"A kiss for luck," he whispered as he pulled away, making a hasty retreat to the closet as the thugs neared the door with their master in toe. 

That... that _scamp_. Of all the infernal cheek... Where did he pick up his companions, if they started behaving so outrageously? Still, the Doctor had the feeling the future would be fun. Things wouldn't be dull on the TARDIS with someone like Jack around. He just had to be very careful not to get captured in the man's company again, since that so apparently gave Jack ideas. 

His captor made a grand entrance, diverting the Doctor's thoughts to the present situation. "Doctor, your short reprieve has come to an end," it said, with a malicious _swoosh_ of its cape. Honestly, what _had_ they been teaching it on Gallifrey? The villainous curly mustache and beard was a tacky touch not even the Master would have approved of. He was going to have to have a word with the academy about this... "Doctor! Don't ignore me!" 

"What? Oh, yes. Terribly sorry. I was rather distracted by your-ah..." The Doctor coughed politely, deciding it was best to just drop things for now. Instead, he continued on cheerfully, buying time to hopefully allow Jack a glace of his captor before jumping out. The bluff would be ruined if the American was too busy laughing hysterically. "Back to feeding my mind to the computer, yes? I've just been waiting in anticipation. Really, this does take the cheese." 

"You joke, Doctor," the small villain said over dramatically. "But you fell into my 'mouse trap' as you called it easily enough. Soon I shall rule this world and then enslave Gallifrey to make my race its rightful rulers." It started laughing maniacally at this with its squeaky voice, twirling it's mustache with a small claw. 

"Oh, come now," the Doctor chided. "Really, you must work on your evil villain speeches. That was downright _cheesy_ , as Peri would say." 

"Enough, Doctor!" The creature snapped and one of the hired thugs came over to lift it to the console where it scampered over to an ominous looking red button. Why were they always red? "I have control of your TARDIS, your companions at my mercy and with a press of this button I will have control of your brain for my new matrix! Do you have any last words?" 

"I don't suppose I could have a last dinner? Not even some crackers and cheese?" 

"We don't have time for that, I'm afraid," his captor squeaked angrily. "I will enjoy watching you suffer, writhing in fear just as I used to while the TARDIS was in your hands. Good-bye, Doctor!" With his tail wrapped around his arm like an overly refined gentleman, the creature reached over to press the melodramatic bright red button. 

Before it could press the button, however, Jack burst through the door in a similarly over-dramatic manner. Jack was a good deal better at the heroic entrance though, making it almost forgivable. The Doctor got the feeling Jack was good at playing the heroic and dashing knight and overall his captor seemed pleased that things were following his formula. "I wouldn't do that, if I were..." Jack trailed off, staring openly at the creature and ruining his entrance entirely. "A megalomaniac _mouse_?" he asked incredulously. 

"Technically, it's a rovie, the Gallifreyan equivalent," the Doctor corrected absently. It was a very ridiculous sight, to be honest. An over-sized mouse wearing a top hat and black cape lording it over the Doctor, much to his own embarrassment at being caught by such a foe. The sight was all topped off by the rovie twirling its fake curly mustache and its black goatee. 

"Someone has been watching too much Danger Mouse," Jack said with a chuckle, far more amused with the situation than he had any right to be. "Now I understand all the cheese jokes. Those were clever, Doctor." 

"Excuse me, but would you both-" 

"Thank you," the Doctor said, interrupting the rovie. "I rather thought so. Nice comment with the Danger Mouse. I hadn't thought of that one." 

"I'm still going to press this button-" 

Taking the Doctor's cue, Jack also cut the over-grown rodent off with more puns. "It explains the organization around here. It's squeaky clean and maze-like." 

"Stop ignoring me!!" the rovie yelled, looking very annoyed when the conversation spiraled out of its control. 

Both Jack and the Doctor looked it over, the American grinning and the Doctor looking apologetic. "You were saying?" the Doctor said, politely turning his head to face the rodent. 

Still miffed at being ignored for so long, the mouse glared at the two of them and motioned for the thugs to be ready. "So you have friends, Doctor. But I know you, Time Lord! You don't like guns. It's a bluff, because you'd never let-" 

Jack fired his one shot into the ceiling, immediately returning the gun barrel to the mouse. "That's assuming I care about what the Doctor thinks. I work for Torchwood and you're in our jurisdiction, mouse. We do things differently around here and that means all of this tech belongs to us now." 

"You might want to listen to him," the Doctor said, despite feeling a little over his head. The name Torchwood meant nothing to the Doctor, he just assumed it was part of the bluff. 

The rovie, however, had been in Cardiff a bit longer. He'd been avoiding Torchwood while setting up this trap, mostly successfully too, and the name carried weight. It hesitated, moving back from the button a little. "You're Torchwood? I've... heard of you." 

"Then you know our reputation," Jack said, taking a step closer to the mouse and putting himself almost between the machine and the Doctor. The mouse took another step back. "I'll admit, my team doesn't follow the old ways, but I think I can make an exception for you. Why don't you just come along quietly and let the Doctor go? I might even see that your cell is well stocked with cheese." 

The rodent stared at the gun, considering his options. Or... wait, something wasn't right. The Doctor was suddenly very worried, wondering how much of this was an act on the rovie's part. What were the hired thugs doing? They were getting awfully close to a very ominous looking machine gun looking object... "Jack, look ou-" 

"Now!" the caped rodent shouted as the thugs moved the switches on the gun that was now aimed right at Jack. The American screamed as the laser hit him, but he still got between the machine and the Doctor as the mouse hit that shiny red button. It was the last thing the Doctor saw before a wall of pain hit him and the Time Lord passed out. 

He woke up sometime later with a painful gasp of breath. The first thing the Doctor realized was that he was suddenly outside, some distance from the complex he'd been held captive in and he'd been face down in the gutter. The second was that he was in a completely different body, which wasn't exactly abnormal for him... except having the WWII great coat and the voice of the person who had just saved him meant he hadn't regenerated. 

Which meant... He was in Jack's body. One heart. Rassilon, how did humans live like this? It felt like someone had cut his senses in half and he was only partially alive. It took several long moments of gasping and trying to adjust to humanity, lowing the frequency of his thoughts to keep from burning Jack's mind out. His six senses were so severely limited that the Doctor found it took him a few minutes before he could even think straight again. 

What were his options? Jack had probably been trapped in that machine in his place as the computer interface and Peri and Erimem were still captured... Torchwood, he thought. From what Jack was saying, they collected alien tech and they couldn't be as unpleasant as Jack was implying. Even if working with them had been a bluff, he could still go there and hope they'd let him loot their storage? If he could just make a machine that could reverse the damage... 

* * * 

"So..." Ianto summed up quietly, "the machine pulled you into Jack's body as it pulled him into the computer matrix? Why can't you just reverse that machine?" 

Jack - or the Doctor in Jack's body - shook his head sadly. "if it were me, yes. But as extraordinary as Jack is, he still has a human mind and that machine is set up to handle a Time Lord's brain. It would fry his mind if we tried that." 

Gwen had relaxed during the conversation, the gun now tucked away in its holster, but she still didn't quite trust the Doctor yet. Ianto wasn't sure what to think himself. This was a far-fetched story, even for Torchwood, though he had his own experiences with mixed up bodies and could sympathize with what the Doctor was going through. Gwen's mind wasn't on trusting the Doctor, however. "But if that's the case, then wouldn’t it have already done that when it sent him into the interface?" she asked. 

Watching the Doctor carefully for his response, Ianto found it was a lot easier to read the man than it was to read Jack's moods. It was just a matter of looking for new signs when he was still desperately searching for the old ones. What he saw in the Doctor's eyes was hesitance and Ianto's sinking feeling was only compounded by the Doctor's words. "Yes, it does work like that both ways. It might already be too late to stop any damage, but I was hoping to cushion that by putting him back in my body first. It might repair some of the neural synapses, especially if I can hook up the TARDIS to help with the transfer." 

"And what about your companions?" Ianto asked, wondering how the alien could work so calmly while they were still captive. 

"They're being treated well. The rovie won't hurt them, not when he's after me. They're probably alright, if a little bored," the Doctor said with a charming smile that was so unlike Jack that Ianto was thrown for a loop. Though, admittedly, it was hard to keep his heart from thumping as he firmly reminded himself that this wasn't Jack. "They're probably on their fifth escape attempt by now. I'll get them out once I've finished this machine for Jack and-" 

" _We'll_ get them out, Doctor," Gwen said, half reaching for the gun at her hip again. "And we'll help with that machine of yours too." 

The Doctor looked crestfallen at this, but Gwen refused to back down, not when her friends were involved. "You don't trust me, do you?" he asked sadly. 

Before Gwen could say something more sarcastic, Ianto hastily cut in. "It's not that we don't trust you, though I'll admit that's part of it... But Jack is our friend. If he's in trouble then I... We both want to help." 

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "There's not much you can do. This is delicate work and-Ow!" 

Glaring at Gwen, the Doctor started to nurse his shin where she had kicked him. At first Ianto was surprised at Gwen's violent turn, but then she gave the Doctor a significant glance in Ianto's direction and her meaning was clear. "Oh, ah, yes," the Doctor said awkwardly. "I see. That does make things..." 

Ianto felt the burn on his cheeks as the Doctor babbled on, trying to remember _not_ to snap at Gwen. She was only trying to help, despite how much he wished she'd meddle elsewhere. "I'm fine, Gwen, really. I don't need to be babied just because I made a fool of myself and over-reacted a little." 

"You didn't over-react," Gwen told him, her anger at the Doctor from earlier returning full force. Maybe later, when he had more time to think through his emotions and figure out how to deal with them, Ianto would find her concern for him touching. Right now though, it was just another reminder of how much he still ached inside. "If the Doctor here had just told us to begin with, none of this would have happened! You had every right to get upset over it." 

Again, Gwen looked straight at the Doctor with a meaning that was impossible to mistake. Before Ianto could remind her he really didn't need the pity (he had enough of his own, thanks), the Doctor sighed and nodded. "I didn't know if I could really say anything at first, but you're right. I should have spoken up sooner after the first day. I am sorry for what my silence has put you through." The Doctor paused, sending a sincere look at Ianto. "I hadn't realized that Jack was so close to you... both of you." 

Ianto just nodded wearily, too emotionally exhausted to say much else. The Doctor hesitated for a moment, looking to Gwen who gave him grudging consent. "Right then. We'd best get started again, if we're going to keep the rovie from taking over time and space. Either of you know much about neurological transmitting devices?" 

Gwen and Ianto traded glances. "If you show me what you need done, I can help with the wiring," Ianto said, not exactly relishing more time alone with the Doctor in Jack's body. 

"I'll stay out of the tech stuff, thanks," Gwen said with a small grin of self depreciation. "You know me and computers. Though if you would give me the address to that building you were held in, I can start mapping out a plan." 

The Doctor stared at her as if that sort of thing were completely foreign to him. From Jack's stories about traveling with the Time Lord, Ianto could believe the Torchwood version of planning and the Doctor's usual vague plans going into things would be hard to reconcile. "Yes, I'll just find a pen, here..." 

As the Doctor emptied his pockets in search of a pen, Gwen leaned over to speak softly in Ianto's ear. "Keep an eye on him," she whispered. "Make sure the machine does what he says it should." 

Ianto nodded, not overly pleased with the assignment but knowing he was the better of the two of them at this sort of job. He would just have to keep reminding himself that it was the Doctor, not Jack, currently in that body. 

Some of his reluctance must have shown, because she briefly took his hand and squeezed it gently in support. "We'll have this sorted in no time." 

He hoped that were true, even though it was a promise she had no control over. Managing a smile for her, Ianto made a mental not to bring by some of her favorite chocolate later. While most of her mothering he could probably have done without, sometimes - like now - it was awfully nice not to just be ignored as part of the background like he used to be. 

More than anything, he just wanted Jack back around the Hub. If working with the Doctor got his Jack back quicker, then that was what he had to do. Ianto just had to deal with things the best he could now and snog the hell out of Jack once he was saved from... a megalomaniac mouse. 

At least things never got dull at Torchwood. 

  
~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: The rovie and Erimem are both characters from Big Finish audio plays and therefore, not mine. Now that we've had the big reveal, I thought I should mention that.
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> “In baiting a mousetrap with cheese, always leave room for the mouse.”  
> -Proverb


	3. Chapter Three

Ianto rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the wires in front of him as the Doctor tinkered with the programming. Delicate work, the Doctor said. Don't jumble the machinery, the Doctor said. Don't breathe on it wrong or you'll mess everything up. The Doctor hadn't exactly said the last one, but Ianto was very close to snapping it. 

The Time Lord was brilliant, there was no denying that. That didn't mean working with him when you were even just a little bit slower at understanding it than he expected you to was easy. The Doctor either assumed Ianto was on the exact same wave length as him or got frustrated if Ianto took more than five minutes to understand a highly complex medical or technological concept. Sometimes both at once. 

It certainly didn't help matters that Ianto's own temper was frayed to the very end of his wits. In his head, he knew the Doctor wasn't Jack. That didn't make the lack of intimacy whenever he looked up and saw Jack's body any easier to bear. Nor did it make the Doctor's occasional angry outburst when Ianto did something wrong any easier to take, despite the completely different accent. 

Plus earlier, when he'd met the Doctor during the Dalek invasion, Ianto had been too busy (and terrified) to really take in meeting the man. Now, however, on top of the other hurts, he found his mind constantly wandering back to Lisa and the Cybermen. 

Ianto jumped as a hand rested on his shoulder. Jack's hand, that wasn't lingering just a second longer than normal to send shivers down his spine as Jack traced up his neck. Just a friendly, but cold and polite touch. God, he missed the real Jack almost more than he had those months Jack had disappeared without a trace. That had been the Doctor's fault too. 

"Why don't you go home for the night," the Doctor said with a hint of concern. "Come back to it with a fresh mind tomorrow." 

Ianto shook his head more out of weariness than being stubborn. "I doubt I'd get much sleep." There was nothing for him at his flat, no point in returning home. Which left him with work that he was really getting too tired to focus on. Still, falling asleep at a computer was something he was accustomed to. Coffee might help as well. 

Speaking of Torchwood's drink of choice... "Would you like some coffee?" he asked, not knowing if Time Lords even needed caffeine. "It won't be Jack's special blend... I noticed you didn't particularly care for that." 

The panic-turned-to-relief look the Doctor gave him as he spoke told Ianto all he needed to know about what the Time Lord had thought of Jack's industrial strength brew. "I was afraid you'd expect me to drink that..." the Doctor said with a small wince. 

At that, Ianto managed a small grin for the Doctor. "I wouldn't wish Jack's coffee on anyone. I can make just about anything you can find at a normal coffee shop though, if you have a request." 

"Actually, a cup of tea would really hit the spot, thanks. With three and a half sugars, if you don't mind." 

Wincing, Ianto nodded. The Doctor _would_ ask for tea. That was an awful lot of sugar too. Still, attempt it he would. Getting up, Ianto couldn't help but notice the pain in his shoulders as he rolled them back in stretch. Maybe attempting to sleep would do some good... but no, the nightmares probably wouldn't be worth it in the end. 

The act of making drinks was relaxing at least. Ianto fell into the rhythm of making the coffee machine work its magic after putting the kettle on. The tea took a bit longer, so Ianto took a few minutes respite sipping his own coffee to mellow his nerves. Then, because he knew tea was far from his strong point, he made a second trial cup of coffee for the Doctor. Given the amount of sugar the Doctor had asked for in his tea, Ianto took a few guesses as to what the Doctor might like, adding a bit of vanilla flavoring and cream to the mix. 

He made sure all three of the mugs were in no danger of spilling before taking the tray back into Jack's office. He placed his own coffee by his makeshift work station and presented the cup of tea to the Doctor. "Fair warning," he said with a small sigh. "I'm not very good at tea..." 

After thanking him politely (which was, admittedly, kind of nice since the rest of Torchwood had long since taken for granted that he was the bringer of coffee), the Doctor took a sip and winced. "Yes, I see your point. You could stand for a few pointers..." The Doctor smiled warmly to show he was only teasing. He'd been about to take another sip regardless when he caught sight of the third cup. "Is that other cup your back up plan?" 

When he wasn't being treated like an idiot who could barely pass primary school, Ianto found it a lot easier to deal with the Doctor. Ianto hadn't exactly been the most pleasant himself when he'd ended up in a new body either, he remembered. So he smiled and nodded, taking the tea cup as the Doctor passed it back and handing over the coffee. "I was guessing at what you might like," Ianto admitted nervously, surprised to find he wanted the Doctor's approval. "I can try again if you'd like something a little less sweet," he added. 

"When in Rome, I suppose." The Doctor toasted Ianto before taking a drink, a vaguely shocked look crossing his face for a few moments before he took another drink. "Now this is very lovely. Is this how you convert people?" 

Ianto couldn't help a small blush cross his face as the Doctor beamed at him. It was such a foreign expression on Jack's face, but at the same time so very... cute. Yes, that was the right word for it, cute. Not a word one generally associated with Jack, to be honest, but Ianto found he almost wished Jack _would_ smile like that more. "I'll.. um... get back to work then," Ianto said, feeling oddly flustered. 

It was easier to work with the Doctor after that. Something about the encounter made it a little easier for Ianto not to take the Doctor's rants personally and remember the Time Lord wasn't Jack, though there was still a dull ache in his chest when he looked over to ask a question. For his part, the Doctor flitted around, doing some of the programming on Jack's computer, working on parts of the machine, supervising Ianto almost all at the same time. It wasn't until Ianto looked up to ask another question, however, that he noticed the Doctor was slumped over at Jack's desk, sleeping peacefully. 

Rubbing the soreness out of his neck, Ianto stood up and stretched. No point in continuing now, not when Ianto only had a vague notion of how to keep going. Carefully, he draped Jack's greatcoat over the Doctor's shoulders and cleaned up quietly. After washing the mugs and giving the main part of the Hub one more formal going over, Ianto hesitated as he decided what to do next. Despite his protests earlier, he really did need some sleep... 

Finally, Ianto found himself climbing down into Jack's quarters before his mind had come to a decision; his feet made the choice for him. The Doctor wasn't using Jack's bed and while sleeping down here wasn't as good as waking up next to Jack, Ianto could at least be comforted by Jack's scent as he curled around the pillow. They would get his Captain back soon. They had to, or Ianto really just might fall apart. 

Ianto woke to find someone shaking his shoulders, the taste of ash and fire in his mouth and the smoke almost smothering him. He gasped for breath, relieved to find clean oxygen filling his lungs. The awful metallic screaming had also blessedly stopped. 

Jack was standing over him, helping him sit up slowly. Though Ianto was still trembling, he felt most of the fear recede and fade away as reality reasserted itself. Jack was here, a fact that comforted his sleep clouded brain to no end. His reason for continuing on after the nightmare surrounding Lisa's death was over. Ianto leaned forward, resting his head against Jack's shoulder. 

Jack tensed slightly, awkwardly patting him on the back. When Jack spoke, all the memories of the last several days came back full force as the wrong accent reminded him of who this really was. "Are you alright? I heard you shout..." 

Ianto jumped, pulling back almost immediately. _I had been before you spoke_ , Ianto thought, but didn't stay that out loud. Instead he nodded, feeling flustered and taking a few seconds to collect his scattered thoughts. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm... fine. I didn't mean to... Sorry, I thought you were Jack. It was just an old nightmare." Ianto swallowed heavily, trying to push all thought of those awful silver bodies out of his mind. Despite his current absence, Ianto still had Jack in his life now. He had moved on from Lisa's death. 

But the Doctor had other plans, bringing up the exact thing Ianto was trying to forget. "You were mumbling something about the Cybermen?" he asked gently, concern in his eyes. 

Clutching at Jack's pillow and looking away, Ianto forced himself to take a deep breath before answering. He put as much of his professional mask as he could muster on his face, despite his sleep mused hair and eyes that were still slightly wet. He was _fine_ with talking about this, he reminded himself firmly. He had Jack now and talking about a single nightmare he was still waking up from wasn't going to crush him. Ianto hoped so, at any rate. His voice sounded shaky to his ears, however. "Old memories," he said tersely. "I had a run in with them two years ago. Then a second time a year ago, when I was pretty stupid and thinking I could..." He should his head, trying to shake the memories away as well. 

At this though, the Doctor's eyes flashed with anger, bringing back the all too vivid image of Jack holding a gun to his head and telling Ianto to exterminate Lisa. "You thought you could what? Harness the power of the Cybermen?" Had he talked about that in his sleep? Ianto flinched away, but the Doctor's self-righteous anger went on, cutting through him. "You humans are all the same. Didn't you realize how dangerous they were the first time? You little _idiot_! You could have caused-" 

"You didn't save her!" Ianto snapped back, anger and shame causing him to loose his temper as the nightmare played across his mind so intensely. It didn't help that the Doctor was still in Jack's body, looking stunned at the outburst from the usually quiet man. "You didn't save Lisa! You didn't even _try_ to help. You just packed up and left as quickly as you could, not even bothering to see if the machines were still working, half-way through 'converting' her. I just wanted... I wanted to change her back to human." 

Silence descended over them as Ianto ran out of steam, flushing as he realized what he'd just said. Shaking his head softly, Ianto rubbed the moisture out of his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, not waiting for more condemnation from the Doctor in the body of the man he loved. "I shouldn't've yelled. You haven't even done any of it yet, have you? And yeah, I know it was stupid, so you don't have to worry about me trying it again." 

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I jumped to conclusions," the Doctor said gently. "And I'm sorry for your loss. I'd hoped that Nyssa and I changed things when... Well, that's neither here nor there." 

"There was nothing you could have done," Ianto said finally. It was true, though it didn't make him feel better no matter how many times he told himself that. He didn't know what the Doctor was talking about, but Ianto didn't particularly want any more apologies either. "I know that, really. Me and Lisa... we were never that important to begin with. We were even in the last group to be converted. Even if you had managed to stop them a few seconds earlier..." 

Ianto shook his head again, knowing that line of thought would get him nowhere. Lisa's death wasn't the Doctor's fault and resenting the man who had saved more people from what Lisa had gone through - including himself - wouldn't do any good. "Really, I should be thanking you for my life. I shouldn't have just yelled like that." 

"That's quite alright. I probably shouldn't have pried." The Doctor smiled warmly, which Ianto returned with a polite smile of his own, even though the motion didn't reach his eyes. If the Doctor took note of that, Ianto couldn't tell, but the man went on speaking. "However, you do have one thing wrong. You and... Lisa, you said? Yes, you and Lisa, you weren't unimportant. I... may snap at you more than I should, but don't let anyone tell you that you aren't important. And I am sorry for what you had to go through." 

Ianto felt his throat tighten at the Doctor's words and he sat there silently, trying to take them in. The words themselves didn't ease any of the pain of the events, but it helped the resentment he'd tried to swallow down for so long, especially when Jack told stories about how wonderful his travels with the Doctor were. "Thank you," he said finally, swallowing heavily. 

With a smile that lit up the whole room, the Doctor clapped him on the back fondly before standing up. "Right then. Do you want to get a bit more sleep or get back to work? I think I've gotten the power source stable, finally." 

"I'll... I'll be up in a bit. I'll take a shower first." Ianto tried not to think of how Jack would have offered to join him instead of nodding politely and leaving him to the emptiness of the room. He looked briefly to the clock to calculate how much sleep he had actually gotten. Four hours. Well, he'd worked on less before, though how long had the Doctor slept if he'd gotten the power source working? 

Still, Ianto didn't move to get out of bed just yet. He curled back around Jack's pillow and tried to soak up all the comfort it could give him as he composed himself from the encounter with the Doctor and the nightmare. Ianto allowed himself five minutes of clutching the pillow against him before getting up and preparing for the day ahead. He'd slept over at the Hub plenty of times before, even before he and Jack started their affair, to finish a report or even just spend a bit of time with Lisa if no one had been around to see it. He was fairly used to getting ready here and Ianto had long since taken to leaving several changes of clothes at the Hub, especially now that he was doing more field work. Going back to his flat with blood on his sleeve would cause more gossip than it was worth. 

Getting a few other chores done, including feeding the resident aliens, he made some coffee for the Doctor before inquiring if he wanted anything to eat. It was still early, but Ianto knew of a little bakery a few blocks away that would be open, so he stopped by to pick up a bit of breakfast for both of them. Back at the Hub, he made coffee for himself and settled back down into the wiring. 

It was awfully hard to start working again though while someone was staring at you. "Is there anything else I can get you, Doctor? More coffee?" 

"Er, no. I'm fine, thank you." The Doctor looked a little flustered at being caught staring, but Ianto found he didn't mind quite so much. It was a very... cute expression. Again, something so foreign to Jack... 

"Then?" he asked. 

"Ah," the Doctor said, trying to gather his thoughts. "I was just... Are you always this efficient?" 

Blushing a little at the phrase, Ianto scratched the back of his neck as he thought about a response. "I... try to be, at any rate. Someone has to take care of this lot, or they'd never get anything done." 

The Doctor's thoughtful gaze didn't let up, however, and the unnerving feeling returned. "And it's just the three of you here, keeping the rift under control?" 

"Recently, yes," Ianto said hesitantly, not wanting to reopen another wound this morning. He shifted uncomfortably, wishing Gwen were here. She as always much better at explaining these sorts of things, since she actually worked through her grief when all Ianto had been able to do was sit there in shock. "We had two more people who worked here, but they both died a little while back. 

Ianto was proud of himself for saying that without his voice giving anything away, even if he felt a little stiff and awkward about it. Those memories still hurt too much to really think about. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up another painful memory." 

The Doctor might have said something more, but Ianto's computer console was beeping lightly from the other room. "Probably Gwen coming in," he said by way of explanation. "I'll be right back..." 

"More efficiency? Let me guess, coffee for her?" The Doctor asked with a small smile. 

"Trust me, you don't want to deal with her when she's without." 

That gained Ianto a small laugh as he quit the room, heading back to the coffee machine that was his life line to the Torchwood Hub. He'd just put the milk in when a caffeine deprived Gwen poked her head in the door. "Coffee?" she asked like a parched woman desperate for water. 

He handed her the cup with a small smile, which she accepted with a grateful look. "What would we do without you?" 

"Have horrible caffeine withdrawals?" he remarked pleasantly, prepared to leave the conversation at that and get back to work. 

After her first sip of coffee, however, Gwen had other ideas. "He's not bullying you, that Doctor?" she asked with narrowed eyes as she critically looked him over. No doubt she was taking note of his lack of sleep. "If he is, I'll give him a piece of my mind about it." 

"He's fine, Gwen. He just gets easily frustrated if I don't follow his whirlwind explanations." Which was pretty much every time, but the Doctor was making an effort to try and be patient with him now. "If I could deal with Owen and all his grumpy mood swings, I can deal with the Doctor. At least he's polite." 

Ianto shook his head lightly. Compared to Owen, the Doctor was a breeze to deal with. It was the fact that the Doctor was in Jack's body that bothered him more than the Time Lord's quirks. In fact, Ianto felt like he'd quite like the Doctor under normal circumstances. It was just too hard to remember that it wasn't Jack yelling at him, despite the accent differences. 

He jumped as Gwen reached out to his shoulder, not expecting the contact. At least, that was his official excuse, not that he was already wound up as tight as a coil. "How are you holding up, Ianto? Really?" she asked quietly. "With all that's going on..." 

Gwen was in one of her mothering moods and without anyone else in the Hub to distract her, there was nothing Ianto could do to avoid it. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to right now either. "I'll survive," he said awkwardly, trying not to fidget. "Just need some time to sort things out, I guess." And Jack, but they were getting him back soon, Ianto reminded himself firmly. "We've handled worse than alien mice before. We just need to have a really big piece of cheese, right?" 

"I don't suppose Jack counts? No, he's probably too cheesy even for mice." Gwen said mournfully, eliciting a small grin from Ianto. "We'll get him back." 

For a brief instant, Ianto really just wanted to throw himself in her arms and cry on her shoulder. Gwen wouldn't mind, he knew and all of this - Lisa, Jack, the Doctor, this overgrown mouse - it was too much for him to deal with on his own. It wouldn't be long before he broke down completely. He didn't, however, because he'd never be able to live down the embarrassment. There wasn't time either and they both had work to do. He hesitated for a moment longer before simply nodding, not trusting his voice to speak. 

There was a small explosion from Jack's office, causing both of them to look up and see the smoke sneaking out the door. "I better go make sure he hasn't hurt himself," Ianto said with a worried expression, hurrying over. Another small boom made him run faster, suddenly very doubtful the Andrazi power source was as 'stable' as the Doctor had claimed. 

* * * 

Jack was, all things considered, not thrilled with being inside a computer. A lack of physical body to flirt with _really_ put a damper on his mood and a cramp on his style. Not to mention when the overgrown mouse _wasn't_ torturing him, Jack had absolutely nothing to do. When you had the mental processing capacity of the speed of light, one got really bored, really quickly. 

He wasn't even allowed to connect to the internet, where he could at least entertain himself. The mouse had built some sort of shield to keep him from a connection and the concrete walls really didn't help. 

Increasingly frustrated, Jack made a few pornographic figures in ASCII, programmed several viruses and anything else he could think of to keep the mouse and his goons busy. He did all of this in the first few minutes of his computer-y existence. Back to being bored again. For a lack of better things to do, he started to completely defragment and rearrange his memories for the optimal storage capacity. Surprisingly enough, this kept him occupied for several hours. 

Long enough for the mouse to return and get very annoyed over those ASCII pictures. And the viruses. Tosh would have been proud of him for those. Hell, she'd probably have enjoyed being a computer a lot more... 

That was when Jack discovered that there was indeed a fate worse than dying or simply being bored. Being turned off or rebooted. 

It felt like every circuit in his brain was cut off all at once, no matter how long he tried to grasp at his memories. Then, booting back up again... it was excruciatingly painful, only bits of him being forced back to life at a time. He couldn't tell if everything that made him _Jack_ was still there, still saved away or if parts were lost, missing forever in the time he'd been turned off. 

He went through that at least five times before finally allowing the mouse to input a few commands. Yes, fine. He could move a few files around, do a few equations and... Hey, cool! He could check weather patterns. He spent a whole two seconds toying around with his new ability, very pleased to have _some_ connection to the outside world even if it were only minor. 

The mouse left him for a few hours after that, giving Jack more time on his hands than he knew what to do with. He defragmented, rearranged programs, rearranged them again (Ianto would be proud) went through every memory stored in the data banks... Anything he could think of to stay sane, to stay _Jack_ and not some computer program. 

He even learned High Gallifreyan from the TARDIS memory banks which he was allowed access to. He learned a lot of things from those memory banks, though for some reason he was cut off from the TARDIS herself. Pity. He wanted to ask if she was as finicky as the Doctor said or if he really was just that bad of a pilot. Plus, the old girl would probably be able to help him out of this situation. Still, trying to chip away at the block that kept him from her gave him something to do. 

A few hours of useless battering told him that the block was far out of his ability. Which was saying something, considering he currently had the brain of a computer. That meant it was back to rearranging the data, because he was too afraid of losing himself to the monotony of continuously trying to break through. 

Jack was actually glad when the overgrown rodent returned; it was a change of pace and it gave him something to focus on. Converting sound waves into the Gallifreyan binary he was forced to think in took some adjusting to, but it gave him something to do. 

"I have some equations for you, computer," the rodent said, twirling its mustache as its voice dripped with patronizing glee. "Now, you are going to cooperate, yes?" 

Jack sent a small, painful electric shock through the control panel the mouse sat on as an answer. The rodent - a rovie, according to the data banks, though Jack figured out fairly quickly that it hated the comparison to the Earth equivalent - gave a short pained squeak and responded by pulling the plug. 

When Jack was fully conscious again and the mouse asked the same question, he gave a small whirl of his fans in grudging submission. He had to chose his battles, not waste what little control he had over his sanity. The equations were simple enough as a computer, anyway. As a human, he might have struggled with it for hours, but his logic data banks were easily accessed and computing the basic numbers took less than a parsec. Nothing hard about it except... 

Except those equations were dealing with weather patterns, he noticed with some surprise after comparing them to the TARDIS data banks. In fact, with these sorts of equations, one could create a tidal wave that could take the UK completely off the map. 

_No._

Jack stopped any and all processes the Mouse had started and refused to do anything more for it. If Jack had a body, he'd have been trembling by the tenth reboot, but he still stubbornly refused to do anything more for the despicable creature. He wasn't going to be used to destroy the place he was sworn to protect. 

Realizing that his threat of pulling the plug was no longer effective, the rovie changed tactics. It brought up a folder from the databanks on the screen, which Jack eyed wearily. "You know what this is, don't you?" the rovie asked, not waiting for a response. "This is your memory and personality encryption. Everything that makes you into that pathetic little ape that got in my way." Yes, Jack was well aware of that and he was very uneasy that the mouse had access to such things. The rodent stroked his beard thoughtfully as he continued. "This cluster of RAM here is part of your memory, isn't it? What would happen if I were to press this little button, the one that says 'delete'?" 

Jack immediately sent another electric pulse to shock the mouse away from the control panel, but it jumped out of the way a second before the pulse reached and pressed the button before Jack could send another. Panicked, Jack searched through the memory banks, not even sure which part of his life it had been. You couldn't permanently delete something that easily, right? It still had to be _somewhere_ , but when Jack checked it wasn't. Not anywhere. 

"Yes, that's right," the rovie said smugly in such a way that Jack wanted nothing more than to punch its nose in. "It was permanently deleted. Gone. Say good-bye to it forever!" 

A sick fear settled into his circuits like a virus, coursing through every electronic emission. That mouse had his entire life and personality to play with at his claws and Jack's sanity was bound to be wrapped up in it. 

"How much of your memories and personality do you think I'd have to delete before your stubbornness disappears, I wonder?" the rovie continued in that squeaky little voice that was suddenly a lot more malevolent and sinister. "I think I could delete quite a bit before you became useless to me. Yes, I could delete quite a bit indeed." 

Furiously, Jack started to copy the files, move them anywhere the mouse wouldn't get to, all while sending as many sparks as he could manage towards the rodent. Unfortunately, like some sick twist from a Douglas Adams novel, the mouse _was_ smarter than him. In fact, the rovie as on par with a Time Lord's mental capacity, something that even as a computer Jack couldn't match. The Doctor might have been able to, but Jack was at a loss. 

The rodent deleted five more memory clusters before the 'fight' officially ended with Jack's terrifyingly quick defeat. He hadn't stood a chance and let out a small whimper in the form of a few pathetic bleeps as the rovie brought up more files. 

It felt like an eternity later, but finally the rodent spoke again. "I think that's enough for now. I'll let you rest and think over your decisions to help me or not. I will see you again, ape-creature." With that the mouse jumped down from the console, exiting the room with a manic laugh and swooshing of his cape. 

How much longer could Jack stand against that? His memories and personality... how could he keep a hold of himself if that creature deleted more or even... or even erased him entirely. No, he couldn't panic now. Jack had to stay calm and limit the damage. 

Again he searched for those deleted clusters to no avail. He didn't let himself dwell on it, however, instead starting to back up the rest of the contents of the folders in as many places as he could. He put locks and traps and viruses on them to guard the memories and protect them. Maybe it wouldn't change his overall fate, but it would delay, keep the rovie busy as long as possible. Hopefully Torchwood would find him when he didn't come back. They'd search, wouldn't they? Then he could find out what happened to the Doctor... 

The next day when the mouse came in, Jack was ready for it. His defiance was met with anger, which worked for a while... then the mouse calmed down and broke through all the defenses he'd painstakingly put up with relative ease and destroyed eleven more clusters of his memory before the encounter ended. Eleven more memories and emotions, horrifyingly erased right in front of him as part of Jack went with them forever. Memories of being human, of sight and sound and touch, the things he craved more than anything right now. Jack was almost glad when the mouse pulled the plug for the day, falling into mindless oblivion. 

  
~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: I do like Jack as the computer. I'm sure he could find a way to make binary sexy. XD It was so hard to not put "End of line" in there too.
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> "If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."  
> -Abraham Lincoln


	4. Chapter Four

"Is this really necessary?" The Doctor asked plaintively as Gwen passed out the folders. They were all sitting around the conference room table, coffee already laid out and waiting for them as the big screen showed the complex blueprints of an old factory. The 'rovie,' as the Doctor called it, had apparently taken it over as its base of operations. The Time Lord in question was fidgeting impatiently, wanting to rush off to the rescue now that he'd managed to combine seven different incompatible alien technologies for the machine that would supposedly save Jack.

Ianto himself was a good bit impatient to be off, but he knew Gwen's plan would save them a lot of trouble in the long run. Gwen simply placed her hands on her hips and leveled the Doctor with a stern look of reproach. The Doctor sank back into the chair, drinking his coffee with a crestfallen expression that didn't quite hide the fact he was sulking. She began the presentation without any further complaints from the peanut gallery.

"The factory the rovie has taken over used to make pencils. Fairly uninteresting in itself, but made entirely of concrete so there is little to no reception." Gwen used the remote to click through various pictures of the factory from when it'd been running and Ianto made mental notes of how the inside of the building would look now. "I've tried getting a message through to Jack if he is hooked up to the computer, but there's some sort of barrier up around the whole compound and it's way beyond our tech. It's a complete blackout zone."

"So our coms won't work?" Ianto asked, not liking the idea.

"Very probably."

"I could do something about that?" the Doctor offered, much to both of their surprise. "The rovie is using Gallifreyan technology. In fact, I could do it right now and-"

"Doctor, sit down," Gwen commanded as the Time Lord started to stand. He looked about to snap at her, but closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment before sitting down and smiling pleasantly. Gwen returned the smile a little too sweetly and Ianto had to hide a grin of his own as he took a hasty sip of his coffee at the exchange. The Doctor _had_ gotten better about keeping his tempter since he'd arrived, but Ianto had grown rather fond of it to tell the truth. Like many characteristics of the Doctor, it ended up being more adorable than actually intimidating so long as he remembered this wasn't actually Jack.

"Now, as I was saying," Gwen said, giving a scolding look to the Doctor as if she were daring him to speak again. He just continued smiling up at her, looking as unassuming as he could. "The thugs it's hired all appear to be brainwashed from a local gang. Not the best examples of humanity and no one would miss them should they go missing, but they are under some sort of control. Ianto, if you could bring out the tasers?"

"Yes, quite. Violence is the answer to everything," the Doctor muttered. "Are those really necessary?"

Ianto couldn't help but feel a little hurt for the barb and Gwen launched straight into a defensive position. "Yes, they are. Or do you want to end up captured and strapped to that machine again?"

The Doctor glared, looking at Gwen furiously as he made no attempt to control his temper this time. "At least no one will end up dead that way."

"Yeah, right. Except for everyone else in this world and your own if we don't stop the rovie from taking over! Or don't you mind if it tries taking over your planet again, this time while you're helpless to stop him?"

"Is that your policy then? Shoot the first alien you see, not bothering to ask questions or-"

"Doctor," Ianto cut in, attempting to limit the damage. He himself was beginning to get angry and none of this would help Jack. It'd only tear them all apart and limit their chances. "We're trying just as hard as you not to kill anyone. But we don't always have that choice, not when innocent people could be hurt."

The Doctor backed down at the weariness in Ianto's voice, but didn't back off entirely, opting for a more passive jab. "So we go in, guns blazing and that solves everything does it?" he asked mock cheerfully. "Sounds wonderful. Can I go now, or do you expect me to use one of those things?"

Gwen was quickly losing patience with the man and Ianto quite honestly didn't blame her. The Doctor simply wasn't _listening_ nor was he being particularly helpful. "We aren't finished, Doctor, and that wasn't the plan," she said, placing her hands on the table in an attempt to keep them from balling into fists. "Which you'd know if you bothered to listen to what we're saying and-"

"Would you both stop yelling at each other?" Ianto asked, a bit of pleading coming into his voice. Both the Doctor and Gwen were staring at him now and Ianto started to feel very uncomfortable under the attention. "All this fighting won't help Jack..."

Gwen reached over and touched his shoulder, giving into Ianto but not to the Doctor. She looked back over at the Time Lord coldly, but thankfully she wasn't shouting any more when she started to explain. "Doctor, we're both human. We don't regenerate, we don't have any special healing powers and we are currently very understaffed. The entire population of Cardiff relies on the three of us to keep alien tech and the aliens themselves out of the wrong hands or from destroying the world, whether they realize that or not. Most of the time they don't."

Gwen paused, eyes flickering over to the empty chairs where Owen and Tosh used to sit, remembering how they'd died heroes that no one knew about. Ianto looked away, trying not to remember just that and that it was highly unlikely anyone would remember him when he died. Continuing her speech, Gwen shook her head softly. "We are using _tasers_ to protect ourselves and the people who are being mind-controlled. It will keep them from hurting us and themselves. Torchwood One might have been different, but this Torchwood only kills unless there is absolutely no other choice. Unless _they_ give us no choice. Is there a problem with any of that, Doctor?"

The Doctor sighed, leaning back in his chair as Ianto held his breath. If they couldn't work together on this... but the Doctor nodded, much to his relief. "Yes, I see your point. I'm sorry. I haven't exactly been making myself easy to deal with recently, have I?" he asked sheepishly, ducking his head. "I'm not used to your dulled human senses and I'm afraid it's made me a little irritable."

"Dull? You-"

"Gwen, I was just as moody when I was..." Ianto paused, realizing that he really didn't want the Doctor to know about that and floundered a little for a suitable substitute. "When I ended up in a different body, remember? So let's just move on, yeah?" And just let this whole subject drop so they could get back to saving Jack. Yes, that would be lovely.

Unfortunately, his mollification to Gwen only served to catch the still bored Time Lord's attention. "You've been in someone else's body before too?" he asked, delighted to take the conversation away from the dreary planning.

Gwen jumped in, regaining some of her humor as the chance to lightly tease her co-worker and friend presented itself. "Oh, yes. Poor Ianto woke up one morning to find that he'd lost his cock and-"

"Can we talk about saving Jack and the Doctor's companions, not about my short time as a woman?" Ianto pleaded, his cheeks hot as both the Doctor and Gwen attempted - and failed - to keep from laughing.

"So you were a... Ah, yes. Planning. If we must," the Doctor said finally, stifling a laugh with his hand and looking to be in much higher spirits.

"At least it wasn't as bad as when you were invisible?"

"Gwen!"

"Yes, alright," Gwen said as she smiled apologetically at him and pat his shoulder, but Ianto had already decided to put her on decaf for the next week. The _last_ thing he needed was to go through all of his most embarrassing moments at Torchwood. Still, the earlier tension had been broken and though he'd never have admitted it, Ianto did feel a little better for the distraction. Even if it was at his own expense...

Gwen continued on, shuffling the papers in front of her as she regained some semblance of professionalism. "I believe there are ten thugs in all and the more we get out of the way before we confront the rovie, the better. Ianto and I will take care of them, while you, Doctor, free your companions. They're likely to be held in one of these two areas of the... Yes, Doctor? You don't have to raise your hand, you know."

"Actually," the Doctor said as he shrugged apologetically, "I was rather hoping you could go after them, Gwen."

Looking surprised, Gwen raised her eyebrows. "Why me? You're the one they'd trust, surely?"

"Not in this body," the Doctor said with a wince. "I haven't really told either of them about my ability to regenerate. It's likely they'll try to attack me before I even had a chance to properly explain if they're trying to escape. I think they'd respond a bit better to an unfamiliar woman than me right now, though I'd call out before stepping into whatever cell they've been put in just in case. They might try to attack you from behind."

"I like the sound of them," Gwen said with a warm smile, thawing a little towards the Doctor. "Then will you be alright with helping Ianto clear the thugs?"

"If I must," the Doctor repeated again. He looked slightly put upon, but gave a small wave of his hand to show he wasn't being completely serious. "I'm not entirely helpless just because I find guns distasteful."

Another jab, but this time Gwen was in a good enough mood to ignore it. "After you've taken care of the thugs, that leaves us with the overgrown mouse. You're the one who has the most experience with it, Doctor. Any suggestions?"

"Oh... Um, taunt it? It worked fairly well last time, I suppose," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "It has a terrible temper for something so small. I think that's where Jack went wrong, for taking it seriously. That gave it time to calm down and think."

"So we keep it angry by calling it a mouse and using bad puns, not taking it seriously and ignoring it?" Ianto asked. If all enemies were that easy, thought Ianto, Torchwood could cut back on the death bit almost entirely. Still, he shouldn't complain. "Once we've got him angry, do we just put a box over him or set up a mouse trap?"

"I did pick up a little cat kennel," Gwen said, nodding to herself absently. "You know, the sort you put a pet in to take to the vet? Do you think that will be big enough?"

"Yes, that should be quite large enough," the Doctor smiled, this time not in polite disinterest but with a boyish mischievousness and charm. "Though you'll have to listen to him rant through it."

Making a mental note, Ianto decided to put a bit of drug laced cheese in the cart. Nothing to hurt the rovie, but enough to put it fast asleep to save all of their sanity if it really ranted that much. The last thing they needed while trying to save Jack was a raving megalomaniac mouse.

"Once the mouse is captured," Gwen continued, "we can bring out that machine of yours and get Jack back. I assume you'll take care of the mouse after that?" The Doctor nodded and Gwen tapped the papers in her hand against the desk with an accomplished movement. "We'll start the mission in about two hours then. That enough time to pack everything and study the layout?"

"Should be, yeah. I'll go out and pick up a few things before we leave," Ianto said, trying not to feel impatient to get Jack back to normal.

"I take it you plan like this often? How do you ever get anything done?" the Doctor asked finally, stretching as he stood up. He looked over at Gwen uncertainly, fidgeting as he spoke. "I can go now, can't I?"

Ianto stifled a laugh at the plaintive tone in the Doctor's voice. "When in Rome, Doctor," he reminded the Doctor, who sighed in response, looking down at his coffee.

"We've lost too many people recently to get sloppy now," Gwen said quietly, eyes drifting back to the two empty spots at the conference table that Ianto himself had been trying to avoid.

The Doctor apologized awkwardly, but Ianto was trying not to hear. He accepted Gwen's empty mug to refill before taking off to prepare for the mission. The last thing he needed was more reminders of their absent friends, Jack currently included.

Gwen's eyes followed the younger man as he left the room and the Doctor could only wonder at what she was thinking. Sometimes humans' way of thinking completely confounded him, but this time it was a pleasant surprise to him when he spoke. "Take care of him, Doctor."

"Sorry?" he asked, not sure he'd heard it right.

"Take care of Ianto, if I'm the one that is going to be rescuing your friends," she said again, gathering the paper copies of the blueprints in her hands.

He was glad that this was the first time Gwen overtly trusted him, but the Doctor still couldn't see why she was asking. Well, obviously out of concern, but... "I was under the impression you could both take care of yourselves?" Hence the guns, the Doctor's mind supplied, but he wisely chose to keep quiet about it this time.

Gwen nodded, her eyes still on the door Ianto had exited. "Ianto is a good shot and he thinks quickly on his feet, but... He's not got the instincts for field work. He's been learning, but it still scares him sometimes and with everything that's been going on..."

"Ah," the Doctor said, understanding what she was saying. Ianto wasn't a natural at this sort of life - something that rather endeared the man to the Doctor to be honest - and that made him more prone to being injured as opposed to injuring others. Again, not a bad quality, but the Doctor didn't want to see Ianto hurt any more than Gwen did. "Don't worry. I'll look after him."

As Gwen returned his smile, the Doctor realized that despite their arguments, he'd grown quite fond of Torchwood. It reminded him of his days with UNIT and the Brigadier and while being tied to one place and time was hardly pleasant, he did have a lot of fond memories of that time. Now, if only he could get his own body back and he could feel normal again, out of this constricted human body that was embarrassingly easy to over excite...

Gwen was about to say more, but Ianto walked back in with fresh coffee for both of them. The Doctor was surprised to find that his own cup had indeed been drained. He'd never been very fond of coffee, but he really could get used to this. Of course, not the whole one heart thing or being tied to Cardiff of all places, but the coffee was welcome. The Doctor would feel so much better if he could just feel a bit more like himself.

"Come on," Gwen said as Ianto left again. "I'll help you move that machine of yours out to the SUV while Ianto's gone. And Doctor... Thank you for helping us."

"You're very welcome." The Doctor smiled warmly, taking a drink of his coffee. Thanks of this sort was a kind he'd never refuse. A thought struck him though as they both stood to get back to work. "Do you think Ianto could pick up some celery while he's out?"

* * *

Ianto was quite baffled at the Doctor's request. He was even more baffled when the man took the celery and pinned it to Jack's greatcoat with an unparalleled amount of pleasure. He was far too polite to ask straight out, but Gwen had no such reservations. "You're wearing a stick of celery?" she said, not quite believing her eyes.

"Yes, I am," the Doctor said happily. "I've quite missed it."

"Any particular reason why?"

"My normal body is highly allergic to certain airborne toxins," the Doctor explained, looking far more cheerful than Ianto had ever seen him. "The celery turns purple when those toxins are close and then if I eat it, I'll no longer be affected by them."

Gwen, obviously unimpressed, stared at the offending stick of greenery on her Captain's coat. "But you're in Jack's body right now. He's not allergic, is he? And how frequently do you need it, anyway? I've never seen celery turn purple."

"Often enough," the Doctor said, passing over the question as easily as he could. "And Jack's not allergic, no, but I've only got one heart and half my senses working properly, so it could still help." And, Ianto suspected as the Doctor smiled boyishly, it was a small reminder of who he was supposed to be. Ianto had worn a suit once, despite how badly it had fit, during his (thankfully) brief time as the fairer sex for the same reason.

Gwen was blinking blankly at the Doctor, about to question it further when Ianto motioned for her to just leave it. He couldn't help a small amused grin of his own though at how silly this all was. A celery-wearing alien in Jack's body facing off against a megalomaniac mouse... Even for Torchwood, this one was weird. At least the weather never changed, as it looked like this epic face off would be held with extremely normal Cardiff rain in the background.

The car ride up was uneventful as they parked half a mile away from the old factory. It started raining harder, making the walk even less pleasant, but both Ianto and Gwen were more than used to it. Even the Doctor seemed resigned to the weather, cheerfully explaining weather patterns of South Wales when Ianto had muttered a rhetorical complaint. They took down the first two security guards they found at the factory with ease, trussing them up and gagging the thugs so they wouldn't make any more trouble for Torchwood.

"You're very good at tying knots," the Doctor remarked as he watched Ianto in surprise. "I've known people who were good at getting out of bonds, but I usually tried to avoid people who like tying me up. Where did you learn?"

Ianto had to fight to keep a blush off his face at the question. When he was sure that he'd be able to speak with a completely straight face, Ianto said, "Jack lost the leather cuffs. We had to... improvise."

It took the Doctor a few moments to puzzle out what that meant, even through Gwen's giggling. When he did realize after a bit more prompting from Gwen that really didn't help Ianto's blush, the Doctor was suddenly very flustered over the whole matter. "So you two... Ah, well. I suppose I did ask. Remind me not to ask again." It was just a little disconcerting seeing Jack - even with the stick of celery to remind him that this was the Doctor - being so innocent and flustered about sex. Ianto couldn't help but wonder how the Doctor managed to deal with Jack while they'd been traveling together.

In the front hall, Gwen took a left to try and find the Doctor's companions. Ianto and the Doctor continued on, taking the long route to the likeliest control room to try and pick off as many of the thugs as they could. The building complex itself was very unexciting. Grey concrete walls lined the hallway with flickering florescent lights. No CCTV cameras. There was that much, not having those ugly things protruding out of every nook and cranny. Ianto still couldn't help but think a few paintings and a different color of paint on the walls would make the place so much more cheery.

"I can see why this place was abandoned," the Doctor said, echoing Ianto's thoughts. "It's gloomy enough in here that I'm surprised people even came to work."

"It's a fixer upper," Ianto agreed, sharing his musings. "Nothing a fresh coat of paint can't solve." He could tell by the look on the Doctor's face that he'd been thinking the exact same thing. They grinned at each other for a moment and Ianto couldn't help but feel a little silly at the exchange. He'd have liked to meet the Doctor under more normal circumstances.

They fell silent as they came to a split in the corridor, leading two different ways. Bringing out his PDA, Ianto noted with no small amusement that the Doctor fished out a coin and flipped it. "This way, I think," he said, then thought better of it. "No, wait-"

"Left, Doctor," Ianto said as he pointed to the map on his PDA, trying fruitlessly to hide a small smile.

The grin only got larger as the Time Lord huffed up and grumbled to himself. Ianto could just barely pick up the words "Yes, I'd have gotten there eventually. Worthless technology. Where is the fun in-"

Ianto motioned for the Doctor to get quiet, staying close to the wall as they came into a large open room. There must have been a lot of equipment and machines in here before the place was shut down, but now there were only a few grey bits of machinery that were presumably worthless... and three brainwashed thugs in the back setting up what looked to be a very large and complex device.

It was like nothing Ianto had ever seen before, a white circular control panel with various colored knobs and a large, clear cylinder in the center that lit up. He glanced over to the Doctor, who he was surprised to see looking absolutely furious. "Is that Jack?" Ianto asked quietly.

"No, that's the control panel to my TARDIS!" Ianto had to shush the Doctor for getting a little too loud, but the thugs didn't appear to notice. Brainwashing apparently did little for awareness. Where had Ianto heard the word 'Tardis' before? Oh, yes. That... blue box time machine of the Doctor's. Jack had spoken about it before. "I'm sorry old girl," the Doctor said softly, eyes never leaving the controls. "It's inexcusable how they've vandalized you, but we'll get you fixed up soon."

"We can start by getting rid of those three," Ianto said, pointing to the guards. Looking over the thugs carefully, Ianto tried not to think about the disappointment that the TARDIS control panel hadn't been Jack. "We need to draw one of them off..."

Retreating back into the corridor, the Doctor started going through his pockets, dismayed at the contents. "I forgot this wasn't my usual coat. There's not even a bit of string..."

Glancing around, Ianto found a small bit of metal paneling leaning against the wall. Picking it up, Ianto checked the hallway once again before banging it against the wall as hard as he could. The loud clang of metal against the concrete could be heard echoing through the empty room.

"That works well enough, I suppose." The Doctor smiled impishly at him, motioning for Ianto to stay hidden against the wall. Drawing his taser, Ianto waited patiently as the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets and acted as the unsuspecting bait.

Sure enough, a large, brutish thug with a beard and leather jacket thundered up to the corridor. Ianto only caught sight of the man's face briefly, staring instead at the back of a very poorly cut head of hair as the thug walked passed him and ignored him completely. So far, so good.

"Ah, there you are," the Doctor said, smiling innocently as if the thug was just the person he'd been looking for. "Wonderful. I've been lost in here for hours. Perhaps you could show me the way out or-"

The man was already falling to the floor, stunned by the taser. Ianto barely managed to catch the bigger man before he hit the ground, staggering under the thug's weight. Ianto was by no means a small man himself, but this thug was bigger than even Jack.

Thankfully, the Doctor helped carry him till they found a small closet to stuff the thug in, but not before he was trussed and gagged like the others. That sorted, Ianto and the Doctor made their way into the large room. The Doctor stood behind him, leaning in to whisper in Ianto's ear. Ianto couldn't help it, the hair on the back of his neck stood up on end at the proximity and it took all of his will power not to lean back until Jack's lips brushed against his ear tantalizingly. "I'll take the one on the left if... Are you alright?"

Starting, Ianto unclenched his fists that he hadn't realized he'd balled and forced his shoulders to relax. He pulled away from Jack's body enough to calm his racing heart, each beat aching in reminder that the Doctor wasn't Jack. "I'm fine," he whispered back, though keeping the distance between them. "The one on the right is bigger, so I'll take the one on the left."

"How come I have to take the bigger one?" the Doctor asked, distracted by Ianto's quickly regained composure.

"Because you're bigger too," Ianto said with a small smile.

Looking down at himself, the Doctor was fairly startled to remember that he was in Jack's body. Ianto couldn't help but wonder what this Doctor looked like, if he wasn't the tall, skinny one he'd seen over the video conference. "So I am. Fair enough, I'll grant you."

Before Ianto could start moving, however, Jack's hand rested on his shoulder for a brief moment, squeezing it in light encouragement. Ianto looked back at the Doctor with surprised vulnerability in his eyes. The Doctor smiled reassuringly at him. It wasn't Jack's smile and though it was Jack's lips... there was something Ianto couldn't fail to mistake as the Doctor in that smile and for once that did make him feel better. They would get Jack back, he reminded himself firmly, giving the Doctor a small nod in acknowledgment.

With one more friendly pat on the back, the Doctor started to carefully move to the opposite wall. There was little to no cover with which to sneak up on the two brainwashed men, but they weren't exactly paying a lot of attention to anything other than the TARDIS console. Attention and intelligence apparently took a dip with hypnotism.

Neither he nor the Doctor had any trouble stunning the two larger men, though Ianto had to gag at the body odor as the man he stunned fell against him. Okay, so maybe he should have taken the larger thug. At least he bathed more than once a week, even if he didn't smell like roses.

Once they were hidden away, tied and gagged, Ianto turned to the Doctor who was... Was he _stroking_ the TARDIS panel? "What have they done to you, old girl?" he heard the Doctor murmur. "We'll get you back, don't you worry, my old friend."

Ianto coughed politely, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment. "Is there anything we can do for the console right now?" he asked awkwardly, trying to remember what Jack had said about the TARDIS. The Doctor was talking to it like it was alive, but people did that with cars too, didn't they? Still, it was better to ask.

"I'm afraid we'll have to leave her here for now," the Doctor said with a small sigh. "We need to stop the rovie before we can try getting her back. What I can't understand is what they were trying to do..."

Looking back at the console, Ianto shrugged. He didn't even know what the machine did, much less what the thugs were setting it up to do. Wandering around to the back of it, his eyes flickered over the brightly flashing lights. It was on and doing _something_ at least.

Which meant it had to have a power source somewhere. There, at the bottom of the console! "Doctor, these wires should-" Ianto cut himself off as he looked up, seeing the thug standing behind the unaware Doctor.

He didn't think, his body moving even before he saw the knife. Pushing the Doctor down, Ianto felt a sharp, burning pain tear down his right shoulder. Ianto froze, pain taking over his senses as he cried out, the knife twisting out of his shoulder ruthlessly. The Doctor was shouting, but Ianto couldn't hear a thing over the roaring of the pain. Then someone - the thug? - yanked his bad arm back, pushing it up his back to constrain him. He hadn't thought he could be in more pain, but he was and it sent Ianto to his knees. He'd have fallen over completely if not for the man cruelly holding him up.

The agony didn't subside, but Ianto was getting used to it. The world around him slowly came into focus as he gasped for breath. Suddenly, however, the cold metal of the knife still wet with his blood was placed against his neck and Ianto was not only fighting pain and dizziness, but fear as well.

"Let him go," the Doctor said, holding up his hands in surrender. "We'll go along with you quietly, but let me tend to his-"

"Move," the thug ordered expressionlessly. Ianto tried not to gasp as the blade pressed harder against his throat, heart pounding in his ears.

The Doctor had no choice but to comply.

~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: I do seem to enjoy tormenting Ianto. Ah, well. More fun this way. The quote of the chapter is more for me than anything, since I forgot about updating this chapter originally...
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> "When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not."  
> -Mark Twain


	5. Chapter Five

Peri sat on the floor, tied hand and foot with her back to her dear friend Erimem, who was also tied. The ropes wrapped around their midsections to tie them together firmly. Over all, it was a very uncomfortable position to be in, especially with Erimem's bony shoulder blades against her back. "Any luck with the ropes?" Peri asked for the tenth time since they'd been tied up this morning.

"No," Erimem said as she shifted against the ropes. "What about you, Peri?"

"Nope." Well, that was disheartening. Their first few days here hadn't been so bad. The room was bland and a little on the small side, but not the worst place they'd ever been captured in. It certainly beat being held captive by Richard III!

Unfortunately, the guards were infuriatingly good at keeping the prisoners in. They'd tried faking illness twice, making a break for the door, whacking the guards from behind... not to mention Erimem simply trying to take them on physically with her abilities learned as a warrior. Which was what eventually lead them to both be tied and sitting the floor as they were now. Still, Erimem's necklace had a sharp edge and they were able to free themselves with that three times before it was discovered.

Four times after that, Peri had managed to swipe a knife from dinner and they broke free, attempting once again to bean their captors over the head when food was brought in. Unfortunately, the guards stopped putting food that required knives to eat after the first attempt. Now they tried their non-existent ability to imitate Houdini and wiggle out of the knots. They were actually currently focusing on the times they were allowed showers and other necessities, but it never hurt to keep trying with the ropes.

"Oh, this is useless! Where is the Doctor?" Erimem asked in frustration. Peri could feel the other girl's shoulders slump forward in defeat. "Peri, we need to face it. Surely, if that mouse had been lying..."

"The Doctor's not dead!" Even though Erimem couldn't see it, Peri shook her head firmly as she tried to squash down the despair that coursed through her at the thought. "It's not the first time we thought he was killed. I'm sure it's just taking him a while to get out of whatever that... that mouse thing has put him through."

"It's been over a week now," Erimem said softly, her regal voice attempting to mask her own grief. "The Doctor is a very brave and noble warrior. He's one of the best that I have had the honor to fight beside, but even the best warriors fall sometimes, Peri. We have to accept that this could be a possibility."

Peri just shook her head again, redoubling her efforts to outwit the pesky knots keeping them captive. Her wrists felt raw, but Peri would much rather wear her wrists out than ever admit the Doctor was dead and unable to help them. "That's all the more reason for us to break free and stop the 'rovie' or whatever it's called, in case the Doctor needs our help!"

Erimem was still for a moment, but soon Peri felt her attempting the ropes again. Their attempts might be futile, but they both had to keep trying, for the Doctor's sake.

About an hour later, they were both taking a break when there was a small crash outside the door. Peri craned her neck to see, but Erimem was facing the door as it opened slowly. Both of the women tensed, but there was nothing either of them could do to stop the guards from coming in. It wasn't time for dinner or any of the other allowed activities they were freed for. Which meant this had to be the mouse...

"Hello?" a feminine voice called from beyond the door which still only remained ajar. "Peri? Erimem? Are you both in there?"

Hope filled Peri at the soft Welsh accent. "We're in here!" Erimem responded warmly. "Who are you?"

"Gwen Cooper," the still unseen woman said. "I'm from Torchwood and we're here to rescue you, so don't try to attack me when I come in?"

"Don't worry, we're a bit too tied up for surprise attacks," Peri said, the excitement of traveling with the Doctor returning full force now that an escape attempt was actually likely. It was only marred by the fact they still didn't know what happened to the Doctor and the fact she couldn't see anything. Speaking of the Doctor... "How'd you know our names?"

She could hear the door open up further and footsteps as the woman came in, but Peri was frustrated to know she still couldn't see anything other than the dreary concrete walls. At least the Welshwoman's voice sounded nice, probably a little bit older than herself. "I was told your names by-" Gwen started to answer, before abruptly cutting herself off. "You weren't kidding about being tied up, were you? You've been kept like this the whole time?"

"Just the past three days," Erimem replied, squaring her shoulders as she spoke. They poked into Peri's back painfully. "We have been trying to escape and the guards decided this was the best way to keep us."

"We still haven't stopped," Peri added, poking back at Erimem in revenge. She got a small noise of annoyance from her friend. "Trying to escape, I mean. I'm glad you're here to get us out though. That makes things a lot easier." All of their previous attempts had, after all, ended in failure.

The woman laughed. "That's the spirit, girls! The Doctor said you would be."

"The Doctor's alive?" Both Peri and Erimem sat up straighter at that, their shoulder poking contest forgotten in the excitement and relief washing over them. Not that Peri had ever believed any differently of the Doctor... Of course not. It was just good to be right.

"He's alive. Things are a bit complicated, but we'll hopefully have things sorted soon," Gwen said, her voice sounding farther away. Peri strained to see what was going on, but once again had no luck other than to bang against a loudly protesting Erimem.

"Do you know where the guards would keep a knife?" Gwen called out, disgust in her voice. Peri didn't blame her, as she thought back to the guard who had tied them up this morning. None of the guards were lookers, but two of them looked like their face had been mauled at birth.

"It's in his back pocket," Erimem called out. Things went silent for a few moments after that, but soon enough there were footsteps coming closer and the ropes that were binding them together fell to the floor.

Squirming around, Peri finally caught sight of the dark haired woman, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket over a black t-shirt. Was that what is considered fashionable thirty years in the future? She didn't like this silence either, so Peri tried to think of something to say. There was always complaining about the Doctor. "So the Doctor really is alive... What took him so long? It's been a week!"

"Peri, he's alive," Erimem said. Peri could tell she was smiling from the tone of her voice, though she still couldn't see her friend as Gwen was still cutting through the bindings and blocking her view. "I'm sure whatever kept him was important, so let us give thanks to the Gods that he is still safe."

"Oh, I'll give thanks to him for taking so-" Peri was cut off as she felt the knife sliding down through the ropes on her wrists. Oh, that _hurt_. Not the knife, because Gwen was very careful about not cutting her, but the blood flowing through to her hands again. The last guard took no chances on them escaping and had bound their hands tighter than the others had.

By the time she was able to flex her hands without pain, Gwen had already freed their feet. Erimem had taken the pain without a sound, not even the small gasp that Peri had made, and Peri felt a little envious of how impassive her friend could be for such matters.

Once they were free, Gwen touched her ear - no, not her ear. There was a small silver device that was some how attached to her ear. What was that, some kind of futuristic earring? "Doctor? Ianto? Come in, please," Gwen said to the air, calling out a few more times.

"What is she doing?" Erimem whispered to Peri, so as not to interrupt whatever Gwen was doing.

"I think she's got some kind of walkie-talkie. It lets her talk to people who aren't in the same room," Peri explained, though the silver earpiece was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

Gwen frowned softly, a worried expression entering her eyes. "It's a cell phone," she said absently. "With Bluetooth technology so I don't have to hold the phone in my hands. Ianto and the Doctor aren't answering though and all I'm getting is some kind of background noise."

"Blue... tooth?" Erimem asked, giggling as Gwen tried calling one more time. Peri shrugged, because it was nothing she'd ever heard of before. The earpiece didn't look like a tooth, nor was it blue.

Shaking her head, Gwen turned back to the two time travelers with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "Whatever's happened to them, we've still got potentially six more guards roaming about that need taking care of. Are you girls up for some more escape tactics?"

"Let me at those brutes. They need to be taught how royalty should be held captive," Erimem said, causing Peri to smile. Oh, yes. They were ready for pay back.

* * *

Pain and fear were the two emotions that were surging through Ianto. Despite that, he still attempted to squirm his arm out of the thug's hold. The movement earned his arm another sharp pull up, causing Ianto to nearly black out. It was only the press of cool metal against his throat that forced him to not slump into it and cut his own throat. Ianto didn't make another attempt after that, simply stumbling forward as directing.

He thought he heard Jack's voice shouting through it all, but Ianto couldn't hear much above the pounding in his ears. The Doctor's voice, a small part of him that was still able to think through the haze of pain reminded him. The Doctor was still talking... no, yelling. Must be, for the noise of it to get through to Ianto. He felt his arm being pushed upward again and he wasn't able to hold back a small cry at the pain.

The Doctor fell silent after that and the grip on his arm moved down again so Ianto could draw in gasped breaths. It was another five minutes of being pushed along before his vision cleared enough to see his surroundings again, though the grey walls made him doubt he was seeing at all until he caught sight of Jack's greatcoat.

They were both pushed into a decent sized room with lively mechanical hums, clicks and flashing lights. It was almost too much for Ianto to take in over the pain, but he adjusted to it slowly, so he focused on keeping his lungs from stopping their movement in the meantime. The Doctor was talking again and this time he could make out a few of the words. "Treatment," "wound" and "Ape-like buffoons" stood out among the rest.

This time whatever the Doctor said had worked. The knife was taken away form Ianto's throat and the hand keeping his wounded arm on his back released him. Without the support, Ianto stumbled forward and would have probably added a concussion to his myriad of hurts if someone hadn't caught him.

Jack. It was Jack's arms that caught him and helped him safely to the floor as fifty-first century pheromones enveloped him with a sense of safety. The fear didn't leave, but it was now muted enough for Ianto to clutch at the immortal's greatcoat and bury his head against Jack's chest.

It was only when Jack awkwardly patted his head instead of tenderly kissing his forehead that Ianto remembered this was the Doctor, not his lover, holding him. Under normal circumstances, Ianto would have been embarrassed and off the Doctor in seconds, but the hurt and fear kept him from even considering it. Even though Jack wasn't here, he could at least take comfort from Jack's body. Ianto doubted he could stand on his own at the moment anyway.

Gently, the Doctor turned him over to start checking the wound. Ianto gave a small gasp as those probing fingers started to pull off his suit jacket. It didn't matter how careful the Doctor was, the pain of moving his bad arm overwhelmed Ianto and this time he welcomed the fall into oblivion.

He woke up about twenty minutes later to find a cool cloth wiping away some of the sweat on his forehead. Groaning, Ianto tried to sit up. He was very grateful when a pair of strong hands gently helped him lie back down. Jack... No, it was the Doctor in Jack's body, not Jack.

The Doctor had found a make-shift dressing for his wound and was just finished bandaging it. Ianto realized his shirt was unbuttoned and half hanging off him, but he there was too much pain for him to really feel embarrassed over it. Besides, the blood... the amount of blood he could see was dizzying and Ianto didn't want to think about it as his. Over all, he was very glad to have been unconscious through most of the dressing, especially since the pain had doubled when he tried to move.

Slowly, the Doctor helped him sit up, keeping one arm around Ianto's shoulders to keep him stead. "Easy now," the Doctor said softly. "I need you to swallow something for me. Can you manage?"

Without waiting for a reply (for which Ianto was belatedly grateful since he didn't think nodding would be a pleasant experience), the Doctor carefully placed a small, cool pill against his lips, which Ianto willingly parted to receive it. Even before the Doctor brought up a cup of water, Ianto had swallowed the pill dry, praying it was a pain killer to rival Owen's. Unfortunately, no pain relievers ever worked immediately and Ianto and the Doctor were still presumably captured. Which meant... "Gwen?" Ianto gasped out, trying to look around for his co-worker and friend.

The Doctor shushed him lightly and Ianto had to fight to focus on the warning shake of the Doctor's head. The light squeeze on Ianto's good shoulder told him enough. Gwen wasn't here, which meant she was still at large and a potential rescuer. Hopefully, the thugs didn't even know she was here yet.

Whether it was the pain killers going to work or simply a placebo effect of knowing he had taken the medicine, Ianto did start to feel a little better as his head cleared. The Doctor still used the cold compress against his forehead, gently wiping away at Ianto's temples every so often.

"Where are we?" Ianto asked finally, leaning against the Doctor when sitting on his own started to tax his strength. Ianto justified it as trying to conserve his strength for when he actually needed it. Being this close to Jack's body and those fifty-first century pheromones was just an added plus he wasn't going to argue with. It might not be Jack himself, but Ianto sorely needed at least that small comfort and the Doctor didn't push him away.

"The main computer room, I think," the Doctor replied softly. "Jack should be in that computer over there."

That got a reaction out of Ianto, as he tried to get up again, but the Doctor held him firmly in place. He was forced to lean back against the Doctor, attempting instead to keep his eyes focused. At least this was a less fruitless pursuit, because he could soon make out the flashing lights of the console and the dimmed screen. That was Jack? The computer gave no notice of them, if it even could, and Ianto felt a small wave of despair wash over him. How were they supposed to get Jack back from that machine?

His despair must have been apparent, because the Doctor smiled reassuringly at him with that uniquely Doctor expression. "We'll get him back," he said. "Just rest for now until the rovie comes."

Ianto felt bad, simply leaving everything to the Doctor like this, but he was right about not being able to do anything at the moment. He allowed himself to be guided by the Doctor back down to the makeshift pillow of Jack's coat, drifting in and out of consciousness for another twenty minutes. The Doctor was never far, which comforted Ianto far more than he cared to admit right now.

The pain was still constant, but thankfully dimmed enough so that when Ianto finally heard the approaching squeaky voice he was able to sit up without needing the Doctor's help. When he finally caught sight of the rodent... Ianto found, no matter how much pain he was in, it was impossible to keep a straight face. Which was no mean feat, considering he had spent years perfecting the art of a professional poker face. A mouse with a top hat and curly mustache... "It really is a mouse," he said, stifling a laugh.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed with quiet amusement, "and it gets more ridiculous every time I see it."

"I am _not_ an it! And you will stop ignoring me this instant!"

Ianto honestly couldn't have said which was more ridiculous, the gaudy villain get up that looked like it was straight out of a 1920's melodrama, or the squeaky voice that was at such odds with an evil megalomaniac. But oh, laughing _hurt_. That didn't seem to matter, however, nor the slightly hysterical tone to Ianto's fit of mirth. After everything that happened, Ianto found he really needed that laugh. Even for Torchwood, this was just too out there.

The Doctor joined in the laughter, neither of them able to look straight at the top hat or cape without laughing harder. "Stop laughing!" it squeaked again, indignantly stomping one of its lower paws.

Which only set Ianto off more, much to his discomfort. Their merriment was abruptly cut short when one of the thugs forced Ianto to his feet and once again pulled his bad arm up behind his back. Ianto's laugh changed to a cry of pain as his vision started swimming again.

Immediately the Doctor scrambled to his feet as well, glaring at the mouse with self-righteous fury. "That is hardly necessary if you wanted our attention. Let him go before your thugs reopen his wounds."

It was the rovie's turn to ignore the Doctor's words, eying the Time Lord suspiciously. "I thought you were dead, the last time I saw you. Yes, I'm sure you weren't breathing when I had my minions drop you in a ditch. You spoke with a different accent last time too. Those are the Doctor's speech patterns."

"You should know I'm not that easy to kill, if you traveled in the TARDIS for as long as you claimed." The Doctor's eyes flickered between the rodent and Ianto as he weighted his options. Ianto quietly willed the Doctor not to be hasty, but the Doctor fell quickly into submission after another pained gasp from the Welshman. "I'll do what you want," he said quietly, fury carrying his voice. "Just let Ianto go. There's no reason to keep hurting him like this."

Ianto found it harder and harder to keep up with the conversation over the agony in his shoulder. It was, granted, a much easier task than the last time, thanks to whatever it was the Doctor had given him for pain killers, but the blood loss was taking its toll and he felt like he was on the verge of fainting.

He could understand what the Doctor was doing when he put his hands up in surrender, because that was fairly obvious even to his pain-hazed brain. "Doctor, don't," he gasped, his voice rough and breathless to his ears. "I'm fine, so don't-" Another pained and involuntary cry forced Ianto's words into meaningless sounds. Fire spread from his arm up to his shoulder as that bastard moved Ianto's arm ever higher, causing his vision to tunnel.

"You've made your point!" Did Jack's voice just go all squeaky in surprise? No, that had to be the pain talking. Pain that didn't recede until the Doctor was forced into a chair with straps that were obviously meant to bind him. Once the Doctor was secured, Ianto was thrown to the floor. His relief at his arm being released was short lived as the impact of the ground jarred his shoulder even more, sending needles of agony up his back.

This time Ianto didn't get up, despite how the Doctor thrashed about and yelled trying to get to him. For one thing, it hurt like hell. There was just no getting around that simple fact and not moving was looking ever more appealing even as the darkness of fainting threatened to overwhelm him.

Ianto was also a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for. His own parents had never seen how clever he was, always so disappointed when he brought home his report cards, but Ianto had learned to use people's underestimation of him to his advantage. Even the Torchwood team had been frequently surprised by him, both before and after the incident with Lisa that should have taught them differently.

The thugs were nothing better than mindless muscle, so struggling against them was useless. If he got back up now, he'd be put through more pain and probably confined by one of them, which - call him crazy - he'd much rather avoid. Instead, he curled in on himself, playing the spineless rookie who was far more hurt than he actually was, mostly unconscious. Not all that hard, considering he did, as previously stated, _hurt like hell_.

He collected himself as well as he could so he wouldn't faint dead away the second he moved and waited for his chance to surprise the rovie. Ianto didn't pay attention to the Doctor's angry words, instead trying to focus long enough to get a good look around. Staying as still as possible, he attempted to recall the layout of the room for anything that might be useful...

There. It was a small radio dish, potentially meant to be part of the computer, but tossed aside. Whether it was superfluous or simply not attached yet didn't matter, if Ianto could just get to it...

Slowly, he started to roll over, then realized that would be a Very Bad Idea. He bit back a moan of pain as his shoulder reminded him vocally that, yes, it still hurt, thanks for asking... At least neither of the thugs noticed, since both they and the mouse had decided he was a non-threat.

Since rolling to the other side was out, that meant a slow crawl. Ianto started painstakingly moving across the floor, pausing every so often to make sure he wasn't being watched. The pipsqueak voice of the rovie and the Doctor's strange British accent filtered through Jack's voice drifted through Ianto's consciousness, but he didn't attempt to make sense of it. He hurt far too much to think past the radio dish and the crawling itself felt like an eternity. Vaguely, he realized that the wound had reopened and he was losing more blood. Well, that explained why he was slowly going numb.

Finally, the tips of his fingers touched the dish and after a bit more wiggling and propping himself up, he had the dish in his hands. Okay. Now what? It took him a long moment to remember the plan and a moment longer to realize he was very probably in serious trouble with his wound re-opened. How much longer did he have until he bled to death? There wasn't much he could do about that, other than to end this as quickly as he could since the only help he was likely to get would be from the Doctor or Gwen.

Looking over to the Doctor, Ianto managed to catch his eye for the briefest second while the mouse was fiddling with a lever. Relief passed over Jack's face so quickly that Ianto nearly missed it, along with a glance at the dish in his hands and an almost imperceptible nod. Then the Doctor went right back into banter with the rodent - more words Ianto couldn't focus on long enough to understand, but he didn't need to.

With the Doctor keeping the rovie and thugs occupied, Ianto realized he was going to have to stand to get to the mouse who was currently sitting on the computer console. Biting back a groan, Ianto focused all of his attention on the two thugs. They hadn't noticed him yet, nor were they even looking at him. With the Doctor now bound to the chair, one thug had gone to stand guard at the door while the other waited on the caped villain's whim.

Ianto clutched at the radio dish with his bad hand and started to push himself up with the good one, trying to ignore how much agony he was in. It wasn't working all that well, the ignoring bit, but it was the effort that counted. Once he was sitting, Ianto had to stop and let the dizziness pass. He couldn't let himself linger over the pain, since the longer he stayed like this the more chances someone would notice him. So he pushed onward, biting his lip to keep from crying out and giving away his presence. Finally, he was standing, though shakily and barely feeling his legs as he moved toward the mouse and the thug.

When he got close enough, the mouse's words started to finally make sense, the high pitched squeak cutting through his thoughts with painful clarity. "It doesn't matter now, Doctor. My plan has already been set in motion and will be carried out before the week is out! This Jack who saved you is no longer necessary. I will erase him from the computer memory banks and put you in his stead!" The mouse moved towards a big, blue button as it grinned menacingly.

Jack... Jack being erased? Not even an immortal could come back from that, right? And even if he did, it would be as someone completely blank, someone who had no idea who Ianto was. No... _No._ Ianto loved Jack and maybe Jack couldn't return that intensity, Ianto still had what Jack could give him. Ianto couldn't lose that, not now.

Fear and anger gave him enough adrenaline to push forward past the thug and trap the startled rovie beneath the radio dish before it could take a step nearer to the button. Its top hat got knocked off in the process, but that was the least of Ianto's worries as it started to bang at the dish and try to knock him off.

"Get this stupid ape off me!" the mouse squeaked from under the dish. It was surprisingly strong and Ianto had to throw most of his weight into holding the bloody thing down, so he didn't notice the thug moving to obey the rodent's summons. Not that he was in any position to do anything about this major oversight to his plan, but he did at least get to look up when the Doctor yelled his name just in time to see a fist coming down to beat him to death.

Ianto closed his eyes and ducked the best he could, hunching over the bowl. The first punch only clipped him, but even that light touch practically incapacitated him. He cried out as his shoulder was jarred, but even that cry was cut off by his lack of air. He'd never be able to avoid a second punch. God, was this is? He was going to die because of a megalomaniac mouse, without even seeing Jack one last time...

The second blow never came, however. The thug had swung wide and momentum had taken him past Ianto to the computer console. When the man started to scream death throes, Ianto looked over in surprise. The thug was being electrocuted by bolts that were some how coming out of the computer. Ianto watched as the man fell to the ground, dead. Had the computer done that, or was it just a fluke?

No time to dwell on that, not when the mouse was still yelling under the dish with muffled cries for help. Whether it was from those cries or the other man's screams, the second thug that had been guarding the door came rushing in and Ianto was just as badly off. He was dizzy and reeling, but he still clung to the dish and the rodent as he waited for the inevitable death.

There was a sickening crack and a cry of pain that was followed by a female voice he didn't recognize. In fact, it took him a few moments to realize he wasn't the one who'd cried out. By that time, someone was trying to take the dish away from him and there was so much yelling that he couldn't single any of the words out. No, he couldn't let go. If he did, Jack would be erased...

"Ianto! Christ, the blood..." That was Gwen's voice, wasn't it? It cut through the rest and the relief nearly drove him to his knees. He focused on her voice as best he could, though he was quickly going so numb that the ringing in his ears nearly drowned out everything. "All of you, shut it!" she said. "Ianto, it's all right. You can let go now."

"But the mouse..." Was that his voice? It sounded so weak and far away, which Ianto put down to another Bad Sign. There was just so many of Bad Signs by now that there was no point in counting.

"Rest at ease, brave warrior. I will keep the mouse from escaping." Who..? Ianto vaguely recognized it as the female voice from earlier, though he had no idea who she was and was too dizzy to even attempt to look up at her.

At more prompting from Gwen, he finally let go of the radio dish, glad to relinquish his guard over it. Gwen was trying very gently to steer him over to a chair after a bit more shouting, but he was solely focused on her voice. "Ianto... Fuck, Ianto stay with me!"

"-'m fine," he slurred, knowing it was a lie. Gwen's voice - panicked, stricken, and on the verge of tears - confirmed his suspicions. Ianto was dying. He'd lost too much blood and he was dying without seeing Jack one last time. Typical Torchwood. He couldn't even muster up the energy to get angry or even be terrified. He was just too tired. What was it Tosh had said? She hoped she did good. Ianto hoped so too, that at least Jack would be saved.

He had two last thoughts before passing out as Gwen screamed at him. The first was that he was sorry for the trouble his death was bound to cause Gwen and Jack. The second was to wonder who would take care of the Hub and the Torchwood team once he was gone. The coffee machine would get dusty...

~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: Hm, I do hope Ianto survives. T'would be a pity if we lost him. Then who would I torment?
> 
> I think I might have used this quote before for another fic, but ah, well. It is a good one.
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> "The first obligation of prisoner is to escape."  
> "Ah, So if one is a prisoner of love, one must escape to solitude? If one is a prisoner to joy, must one escape to sadness?"  
> -Captain John Sheridan and Lorien, Babylon 5


	6. Chapter Six

Ianto woke up to find he was in more pain than he could ever remember being in. Nope, not Heaven then. He wasn't in Hell, was he? Sure, he hadn't been a saint, but he always thought he'd done more good than harm. At least, he tried to, and wasn't God supposed to be forgiving? He didn't think he'd have been damned just for his affair with Jack. 

Trying to think back over his last memories, all Ianto could remember were hazy bits. Jack barking commands with a British accent. Gwen yelling that she wasn't leaving. Two other female voices he didn't know, one American and the other British with an aristocratic sound to her. Then silence, as the pain grew and Jack had told him to sleep.

Just asleep then? Did that mean he wasn't dead? That would be a lucky break which he wasn't sure he was due. Or not so lucky, as the pounding of his head reminded him. His voice finally started working, letting out a low moan as Ianto tried to open his eyes. 

Immediately, cool hands pressed against his forehead, followed by a moist cloth dabbing at his temples. "Be still, noble warrior. Your wounds were great."

Okay, _that_ was weird, even for Torchwood. Noble warrior? Who used terms like that anymore? "Where..?" _Ow_. That hurt. When did his throat get that raw? No more talking for a few moments. Hopefully whoever this was would get him water.

"You're in the TARDIS," the strange woman said. "Peri! Go tell the Doctor that our brave friend has recovered."

Peri. The Doctor. Slowly, Ianto was able to piece things together enough to remember what had happened. Which meant that the girl who was speaking was Erimem, the other of the Doctor's companions? Hadn't the Doctor said she was royalty from ancient Egypt? But if that were true, why was she speaking with a British accent? Oh, his head hurt way too much to be thinking about such things.

"Can you sit up?" she asked.

Ianto had been avoiding movement altogether, knowing from past experience that movement after being severely wounded was _bad_. But the girl he assumed was Erimem was rearranging his pillows and helping/forcing his head to move up. Once he was settled (and in quite a bit more pain), something cool pressed against his lips. "Drink this," Erimem said softly. "The Doctor said it would make you feel better."

Bless her. Sitting up to drink was worth the pain it had caused and he automatically obeyed, swallowing the cool liquid. It tasted awful and medicine-like, but it did sooth his throat so he gulped it down as fast as she let him. Finally, she pulled the cup away and Ianto decided to try opening his eyes.

"Lisa?" he croaked out, surprised enough to try and sit up properly. Which was, as he assumed the first time, a very bad idea. The girl who he had mistaken for Lisa - who now looked absolutely nothing like her, he noted with no small embarrassment - was pushing him back down.

She was stunningly beautiful, that much was obvious. Great, he'd just mistaken Egyptian royalty for someone else like a bad pickup line Jack might use. "I'm afraid I do not know of this Lisa. Is she a friend of yours?" she asked, her voice every inch the Pharaoh the Doctor described her as.

Closing his eyes again for a moment, Ianto summoned up his politest smile. Which wasn't much given the circumstances, but he tried. "Someone I knew a long time ago. Sorry for mistaking you for her."

"Someone you lost?" the girl asked, hitting closer to home than he really wanted to dwell on right now. It must have shown on his face, because Erimem immediately started to back pedal. "I am sorry. I shouldn't ask such questions, not when you're still-"

"Erimem, the Doctor says we gotta get him out there," the American voice called out from the next room before a girl who looked a little older than Erimem walked in. 

"He nearly _died_ , Peri. We can't just move him! He can't afford to lose any more blood and if the wound reopens, what happens then?" Erimem turned to berate her friend for rushing them and Ianto noticed that Peri was equally good looking. That was a fact that the Doctor had neglected to mention. He was beginning to wonder if the Doctor were just as bad as Jack, surrounding himself with pretty young things. Though, he knew the real reason for Jack doing that had less to do with physical appearance and more to do with a perspective on life that he had gotten too old to see. Was it the same with the Doctor?

"I know," the American replied, glancing down at Ianto with a worried expression. "That's what I told the Doctor. But if we don't do something, _everyone's_ going to die. The Doctor thinks Ianto can help." 

At this, Erimem grew grave, glancing at the door. "Has it gotten much worse?"

"You can't even go outside anymore without being nearly blown away."

Worse..? What was going on outside? The mouse had been captured, hadn't he? If something had happened while he'd been sleeping... Well, he'd never find out just sitting here thinking about it. Time to try his voice again. "What's gotten worse?" he asked, startling both girls from their conversation.

They traded glances and then the girl called Peri explained. "There's a hurricane going on out there and the Doctor says there's even worse on the way. We need to get you to the control room though. Come on, you can lean on us."

What happened next was a blur of pain. Ianto tried to keep as much of his weight of the girls as possible... which ended up not being very possible at all, as they half-dragged him as gently as they could out of the strange rooms that made up the TARDIS. Not that he could see much of it, or even regret missing out on the opportunity. There was just too much pain for him to focus on anything.

He did notice the howling of the wind as soon as they crossed the threshold of the TARDIS though. It was faint enough that he almost couldn't hear it, but even in his pain hazed mind he remembered what the building was made of. You could hear the wind even through solid concrete.

After that, Ianto lost track of time. There was simply no end to the pain and it felt like an eternity before they finally reached the computer room again. It was quieter in there, with only the hum of computers since even the wind couldn't reach this far. Though why they couldn't just move the TARDIS so he wouldn't have to walk so far... Then again, with the stories he heard from Jack, a short jump like that was probably impossible and would only land them in a completely different time and place. Probably better to walk. He nearly fainted in relief that he didn't have much farther to go, but he held on. If they'd seen fit to bring him out here, then he probably didn't have time to faint. 

They had to make time for him to swoon, unfortunately, since his attempt, though valiant, was only partially successful. Ianto slowly waded back to full consciousness to find he was sitting in a make shift chair of computer hardware and other electronic bits and Gwen sitting anxiously beside him with her arm around Ianto. "Gwen?" he said, wishing for something to sooth his throat again. God, he sounded so hoarse.

"I'm right here," she said quickly and he found himself being hugged all the tighter for it. Which was painful, but Gwen looked like she needed the hug more than he did. Erimem had said he'd nearly died - and it certainly felt like it.

For the first time that fact really sunk in and residual fear rose up. It wasn't like Ianto hadn't been near death before, but the fear of it never really went away. He let himself lean into the hug, needing it just as much as she did. He tried speaking again to distract himself from those thoughts, pleased to find his voice sounding a little more like his normal tone once he'd swallowed. "Where... Where is the R.O.U.S.?"

It was a question neither Peri nor Erimem had brought up and he was quite curious as to the rodent's fate, especially if there was still something going wrong. Unfortunately, the question only puzzled Gwen. "What's a R.O.-whatever you said?" Peri asked, bringing a glass of what looked like water with her. Bless her.

"You know, Rodents of Unusual Size?" Ianto asked, gratefully accepting the water. Gwen had to help him hold it due to how much his hand was shaking, but he was fairly sure it wasn't because of fear. Just a bad knife wound and a lot of lost blood... 

He paused to take a drink, gratefully gulping down the water as he looked around. All of them had puzzled expressions, even the Doctor. Erimem he could understand, even Peri, if she'd gone off with the Doctor before _The Princess Bride_ came out. But he'd thought that Gwen at least... "I guess no one's seen that movie then," he said, feeling just a little crestfallen. Not only had he nearly died and could barely sit up on his own, but no one got his clever movie reference. It was times like this he really missed Owen's snarky back up on all things movie related.

The Doctor coughed politely, bringing everyone's attention to him. "The rovie is safely caged inside the TARDIS and most unwilling to help with our current predicament. How are you feeling though, Ianto?"" 

The matter of the mouse settled, Ianto let himself feel all his hurts in order to take stock of himself. Another reason to miss Owen. As caustic as the man was, he was a damned good medic and had some wonderful painkillers. "I've... I've been better. Been worse too, probably, but it's hard to remember those times at the moment."

The Doctor nodded and wasn't quite able to hide a touch of worry in his face, which Ianto felt rather touched about. "We'll get you to a hospital once things clear up, but I'm afraid the situation here is quite desperate. The rovie has set the computer to create a massive storm, one that could very well wipe out the whole nation if its not stopped, and it used my TARDIS and the rift to power it." The latter came out as a huff and the two girls who traveled with the Doctor traded amused glances. Ianto got the impression this was an old rant and given how the Doctor had reacted to seeing the TARDIS console earlier, Ianto wasn't too surprised. "I've disconnected her, but it's still drawing power from the rift... and it's building. Which is why we need you here."

That really didn't sound good. Ianto shivered lightly, immediately feeling Gwen's arm tighten around him as she started to rub his shoulders to warm him up. He didn't have the heart to tell her he hadn't shivered because he was cold. "What can I do? Ianto asked, feeling weary. "I'm no Tosh and you're better at computers than I could ever be. I don't think I can even read what output on the screen is saying, from the looks of it. Why do you need me?"

"Ah," the Doctor said glumly, looking over at the controls. "Therein lies the problem. Whenever I or anyone else gets near the computer to change the settings..." Demonstrating as he trailed off, the Doctor started to approach the console. He reached out to touch the controls and a burst of electric energy zapped his hand away. "It's non-lethal as long you don't keep putting your hand in it," the Doctor continued to explain as he rubbed his hand, "but it is making things rather difficult for us."

"It's not everyone though. I can get close, but the OS still won't let me work it," Gwen said, hugging Ianto in encouragement. She really was going overboard with this mothering bit, but Ianto highly doubted he could sit up on his own without her support. It was partially for her comfort too and so long as it was passive on his part, Ianto didn't really mind too much.

"So... you're trying me because I'm the only one left to try?" Brilliant. A walk all the way here for something that probably wouldn't work. More than likely it wasn't that simple, but Ianto felt entitled to a good grumble after everything that had happened and he hurt too much to try and think clearly enough to come up with a better alternative. 

His sarcasm went completely unnoticed - or flat out ignored - by the Doctor, who shook his head before continuing. "It protected you before when you were trying to trap the rovie and it made sure not to hit you along with your attacker. Ianto, Jack is in the mainframe of this computer. You and Gwen are the best shot we have at convincing him that we need to change the programming."

"Jack?" This computer was where Jack's consciousness was? 

Before he could even get his head around the concept, the computer made a few whirling noises in response. It captured everyone's attention and the Doctor relaxed enough to smile. "It hasn't done that before," Peri said in surprise.

"So you can hear us," the Doctor said, beaming down at the computer. "Now be a good fellow and - Ouch! Honestly, we're trying to stop... Yes, yes, alright. Electrocution if I stand any closer."

The happy expression faded to exasperation as the Doctor continued to be shocked until he had moved a safe distance away. He looked back to Ianto with a small sigh. "He responds to you, that's for certain. Gwen, can you help me move Ianto closer?"

"I found a real chair!" Erimem called out from the doorway, dragging a metal chair behind her. Not the most comfortable of things, but it was better than the computer cluster. 

"Thank you, Erimem. Just what we needed," the Doctor smiled again, though he didn't try to get close to the computer. "Just be careful not to get shocked."

The resulting move wasn't as bad as the walk to the main computer room. Much shorter and less of a strain, though Ianto still felt dizzy when Gwen and the Doctor finally eased him into the chair. The Doctor was right as no electrical shock accompanied Ianto placing his hands at the controls. "What do I do now?" he asked. 

The Doctor tried once more to move closer and got zapped for his troubles. He looked over at Ianto thoughtfully. "Why don't you try talking to him? If you can get him to understand that we're here to help then maybe he'll let us change the program."

Well, here goes nothing.

* * *

Jack was scared. There was no denying it, he was scared, hurt and not sure how much of him was human and how much of him was computer anymore. The mouse had deleted so much, taken away so much of what made him _human_ , that it was all he could do to cling to the last vestiges of his memories. Even the memories he'd hidden and copied to so many places were sought out and destroyed with malicious pleasure. He couldn't remember what it was like to have the rain on his skin or lips pressed against his. He couldn't remember what fish and chips tasted like or what the music actually _sounded_ like. 

He was terrified.

As if that wasn't bad enough, that was when _he_ came in. There was no question about it. The person who walked through that door was Jack. _His_ body, up and wandering around as if he hadn't been sucked into a computer. Scared didn't even begin to cover his feelings, if he even had such things anymore and wasn't just a computer program.

In his panicked state, Jack almost failed to notice the young man who was being brought in along side Jack's body. Someone familiar, someone who was badly hurt... Searching the broken remnants of his memory banks, Jack found a name and an emotion. 

Ianto Jones. Trust. 

Everything else in the file was gone. Jack was painfully aware that this had been a very large file before and he should know more about Ianto Jones. He couldn't remember, nor could he do anything but watch fearfully as Ianto was finally pushed forward and caught by Jack's body. He was helpless to do anything as someone with his face dressed Ianto's wounds carefully. Under normal circumstances, he might have enjoyed the view of Ianto's shirt being taken off, but there was far too much blood and Jack was barely keeping his head about the proverbial water. It should be _him_ dressing those wounds, not.... not whoever it was that had his face. He was still Jack Harkness, wasn't he?

It was quiet for about twenty minutes before the mouse came back. It didn't take long to realize what the rodent was planning either. Jack had failed and he wasn't right for the system. Too stubborn. Which meant total erasure as the mouse decided it was better to try again. 

Terror swept through him, all through his circuits, as Jack desperately tried once more to back up all of his memories. It was futile, he knew, but he couldn't not _try_. 

That was when he saw Ianto slowly coming up behind the rodent. If Jack still had a body, he'd have been holding his breath. As it was, he stilled all non-vital systems until all he could hear was the whirling of his cooling systems and the voices of the outsiders. He whirled back to life with a few bleeps of a cheer when Ianto trapped the mouse, but the guard was coming up and-

Jack didn't think. He didn't have time to. Up till now, his electric blasts had been painful and aimed to induce a state of unconsciousness. Anything more might short his circuits and he didn't want to be powered off for as long as it would take to fix it. The moment the guard's arm landed on the console, however, Jack aimed to kill with every bit of power he had, and kill he did.

Thankfully, his was able to cut the power just before it overloaded, and Jack didn't want to try that again. What happened next was all a bit of a jumble as he redirected the power to its proper places. Another guard was coming in, one that wasn't touching the control panel, along with three other people, one of whom took out the other guard. Ianto was being taken away and there was nothing Jack could do. 

_Gwen_. Another name that resonated with him deeply, but with an empty file aside from a picture of her in a wedding dress. He wanted to cry in frustration at it all, but Jack lacked the tear ducts to do so. He did the only thing he could, which was to keep everyone who tried to mess with his programming away, shocking them with less deadly versions of his attack if their hands got close enough. 

He didn't shock the woman he recognized as 'Gwen,' but he didn't run any programs for her either. The problem was, all he had was her name and a picture, not whether she was friend or foe. He couldn't lose more of his memory, not to this person or the one with his face. They'd taken Ianto away, the one person he could remember trusting and it was all he could do to hold onto his sanity and keep the intruders at bay.

The storm outside was getting worse and worse, but Jack couldn't touch the programming for that either. Oh, he tried several millions of times, but the mouse blocked it off from him when it wasn't using Jack to make adjustments. 

At least the new people weren't as deft and nimble as the mouse and they couldn't get through to his circuits or programming without a sharp surprise. That didn't stop the man with his face from trying, but Jack slowly increased the shocks for him to keep him at bay. _He_ was Jack Harkness, not this impostor, and Jack wasn't going to listen to whatever arguments they had to get at his programming. He had to believe that, had to keep hold of the fact he was real, or he might very well turn into the mindless drone of a computer that the mouse had been trying to turn Jack into.

When Ianto was brought back into the room, Jack's fans nearly stopped. Ianto was so pale... too pale. How much blood had he lost? There were still traces of Ianto's blood on the floor, painting the tile red. He gave a few bleeps of concern, but only the impostor seemed to notice. Well, a small bolt his way discouraged him from any trick he might try.

Then Ianto called out his name, looking not at the impostor but at _Jack_ and the computer console... Ianto was definitely someone he could trust. Oh, Ianto. He was here, right here. His consciousness, he _had_ to be Jack Harkness. He had to be... electrocuting the impostor with just a little bit more sadistic pleasure. Not on his watch, buddy.

Ianto was carefully moved closer, tentatively placing his hand on the console. He was the one person Jack could remember enough to trust, so he wasn't about to harm a single hair on Ianto's head, but...

Letting out a sharp yelp of surprise that drew the attention of the whole room, Ianto pulled his hand back briefly. "Are you alright?" the impostor had the gall to ask. "He hasn't shocked you, has he?"

"No," Ianto replied slowly, replacing his hand on the console as Jack continued as he had before. This time, Ianto didn't move his hand away, running it over the light sparks curiously. "Doesn't hurt. It's more like a little bit of static, actually. It feels like one of those clear balls you see at museums with lighting inside when you touch the edge. It just tickles a bit."

Gwen let out a low chuckle. "Yup, that's Jack in there. He _would_ figure out a way to flirt as a computer."

His file on Gwen didn't have much in it beyond her name, but he wrote gratitude for understanding him into it. He clung to their acknowledgement and familiarity, desperately needing to reassure himself that he was still human.

And oh, what he wouldn't give for a real body. Ianto was smiling - weakly, it was true, but a real smile - and all Jack wanted to do was kiss him and Gwen senseless for confirming who he was. "I've missed you, Jack," Ianto said quietly, his lilting accent never more perfect to Jack's sound recorders. His systems hummed happily in response.

The impostor interrupted his moment of happiness with a polite cough, turning Ianto's attention away. "I hate to intrude, but we need to get - Ow!" With a few smug bleeps, Jack gloated as the impostor glared at his screens.

"Jack, you've got to stop that." The smile fell from Ianto's face, returning to a more weary and pained look. But this was an impostor, wasn't it? One of the bad guys? Jack made a few unhappy and confused bleeps, still eying the impostor suspiciously, even as he tried to get Ianto to smile again with the light sparks. "It's alright, Jack," Ianto continued to assure him. "This is the Doctor. We need you to let him stop-"

Ianto was going on, but Jack had already accessed the Doctor's files in his memory banks. The Doctor was a fairly large file, only partially there, but what was left told him all he needed to know. He sent out another shock wave; even if it didn't reach the Doctor, it would get his point across that he wanted the Time Lord impostor well away from him.

The electric shock surprised everyone in the room, including Ianto and Gwen. "Why is he still attacking?" Gwen asked, bafflement in her voice. "He had absolute faith in you, Doctor."

"Jack, this is the Doctor," Ianto said, trying again. "He's your Doctor, the one you traveled with? You used to tell me about him from time to time. I know he doesn't look like it right now, but it's him and he's here to help."

In response, Jack sent out another electric shock in warning. Come nearer and the results won't be pleasant. They'd all seen what he'd done to that guard. Jack honestly didn't think he could kill again, if push came to shove, but the wonderful thing about being a computer was the complete inability to discern if he was bluffing or not. It was better than even the best poker face, that, and the bluff was too convincing for the Doctor to chance it.

"If the Doctor was his friend, why does the computer keep attacking?" the American girl asked, placing her hands on her hips with a touch of anger. 

"Programing? The rovie might have left some instructions against letting me near that he can't break." The Doctor scratched his head thoughtfully, then turned back to Ianto. "Ianto, try asking him why. He's still responding to you and maybe he could bring up the coding?"

Ianto nodded, looking up at Gwen briefly as she squeezed his good shoulder in reassurance, once again reminding Jack of his current lack of body. "Jack, at least show us why you keep attacking the Doctor," Ianto pleaded, lightly caressing the paneling Jack would have given anything to feel.

For a moment, Jack debated it. If this were some kind of trick to get access to his programming and memories so they could delete more of it... He _couldn't_ risk any more of his memory, not in his current state. Jack was too close to losing himself to the computer languages and data storage. Already he was thinking in terms of files and data caches, not memories and emotions. Too much more of this and...

"Please, Jack," Ianto asked. "You've got to show us what's wrong."

Trust. That's what the file of Ianto Jones said. Ianto Jones, with his complete and unbidden loyalty and devotion after being taken back when that trust had been broken. The trust had been broken once, hadn't it? But not since then, no. And there had been reasons for that single betrayal, though the details were missing from his memory banks. It caused Jack pause, but ultimately the trust won out. It was all he had left of Ianto's file.

The screen flickered to life in front of them as Jack considered what to project from the file on the Doctor. Hurt. Loneliness. Betrayal. Love that nearly broke him. One word stood out above the others, however, and that was the word he put up on the screen.

"It's just a circle with some weird design," Gwen said, peering at the screen. 

"It's Gallifreyan, the language of the Time Lords. The rovie probably forced him to learn it as part of the OS, " the Doctor corrected absently, looking through his pockets before muttering something about having the wrong jacket and not really needing the glasses anyway. The last bit Jack had to strain his sound sensors to hear, not quite certain what it meant.

Finally, the Doctor looked up at the screen, sans the glasses he'd been looking for, and raised his eyebrows. "Abandonment? Do either of you know what he means by that?"

Gwen and Ianto traded glances, a silent conversation going on between them that neither the Doctor nor Jack could decode. Finally, Ianto turned not to the Doctor, but to the screen to address Jack. Which was very sweet, but his motion sensors and cameras were off to the right. Didn't stop Jack from reveling in those Welsh vowels addressing _him_ , not the impostor, as Jack. "He's not going to abandon you this time, Jack. The Doctor's done nothing this past week and a half but try to find a way to help you. You've got to let him help, or that storm will kill everyone."

Jack paused, fear making him put off the decision. Ianto could be trusted. Ianto had missed him, addressed him as Jack, not the impostor, but... The feeling of hurt and abandonment by the Doctor was too strong, especially paired with the Doctor wearing his face. A quick check on the storm told him there wasn't much choice, however, not if a high death toll was to be averted. 

"Please, Jack. You can trust him," Ianto said again, fingers brushing against his keyboard. Oh, did he want Ianto to touch him more like that. Jack would take any commands Ianto input if he typed _just_ so. 

Jack sent a few more tickle shocks to Ianto, who smiled, running his fingers over control panel again. "You'll do it?" Ianto asked quietly, looking so very tired. But absolutely gorgeous with a smile on his face. In response, Jack brought up as much of the files that had to do with the storm as he had access to. 

The Doctor/impostor took a weary step forward, slowly stepping closer when the electric shocks didn't come. For his part, Jack watched with every bit of his guard up, ready to send a strong electric pulse should the Doctor try anything funny. 

But as soon as the Doctor's fingers hit the keys, any suspicion dropped from the Doctor's form as he peered over at the screen. He only paused for a moment to check for the still missing glasses. "Well, this is a nasty bit of work," he said softly as his hands flew over the keys in quick, precise movements. Jack couldn't help a low hum of appreciation. He may not trust the Doctor, but oh, was he good. 

"Can you fix it, Doctor?" The Egyptian girl asked, leaning closer. Now that he wasn't shocking anyone and everyone that came near, Jack found that both her and the American were both _more_ than welcome to have a go at his circuits. Very nice on the camera lenses. 

The Doctor smiled broadly, an expression that struck Jack as... not quite _wrong_ exactly, but certainly never an expression he'd have worn when he had a body. "Actually, I don't believe I'll have to. Once I take out this block..."

There were a few more quick keystrokes that Jack watched carefully. What was the Doctor up to, saying things like - Oh! The block that kept Jack from accessing and changing the weather program was gone! Immediately, Jack set to work re-calculating and changing the perimeters back to normal Welsh weather. Not an immediate change since that would wreak as much havoc as the storm was, but a gradual progression to lessen the storm. He did drastically cut back on the worst of the wind though, hopefully making things easier for the people outside.

"Splendid," the Doctor said, taking hold of the lapels of the greatcoat as he beamed down at the computer. "Jack has taken care of it. Quite masterfully too, if I do say so. Peri, be so kind as to run and check if the wind has died down to make sure it's actually responding to the program changes, please?"

Jack missed a bit of the conversation after that, feeling very pleased at the praise. For all his mistrust of the Doctor, he found his craving for the Time Lord's approval out-weighed the sense of abandonment. So pleased was he, that he forgot to monitor what the Doctor was doing and realized a millisecond too late that the impostor with Jack's face brought up his memory banks.

Immediately, Jack hid the program and sent an electric bolt in the Doctor's direction. "Jack, what are you doing?" Gwen asked, shocked by the sudden change. "He's helping you! Didn't he just help?"

No, the Doctor wasn't helping anymore. He was trying to delete more memories, trying to erase more of what little he had left. What's worse, is the Doctor had the nerve to look _angry_ about it. The people outside were safe now and there was no reason for him to let this 'Doctor' try to abandon him again. He already set up a program to shock anyone who came near, except for Ianto and Gwen.

"It's a small wonder he's attacking everyone!" the impostor said, eyes flashing with fury.

"What?" Ianto asked, looking perplexed.

"Yeah, Doctor, what was that thing you brought up on the screen before he attacked you?" Peri asked. She was leaning just a little too close to the console and got a nice little shock for her troubles. Not anything too harmful, but still painful.

The Doctor waved her back, but he didn't seem to be angry with Jack, which was all the more confusing. "That malicious rodent has been deleting parts of the computer's databanks - the parts of Jack's memories and personality matrix! Jack has had most of his life deleted and he's probably barely got enough left to maintain sentience." 

Anger mixed with sorrow as the impostor paced the room. His words grew softer, but no less impassioned. "Of course, it doesn't help that I'm here, looking exactly like what his memory banks tell him he should look like. A normal human would have gone mad with it all. I'm not sure he hasn't, to be honest. I never thought it would go that far."

Gwen pivoted, leaving Ianto to advance on the Doctor. Ianto started to follow her, but sat down again quickly as the blood drained from his already pale face. Giving a few bleeps of concern, Jack resumed the light tickling of Ianto's fingers to encourage him to stay seated as Gwen started shouting. "What do you mean, mad? What's the mouse done?"

The Doctor didn't back down from her, instead shaking his head sadly. "I'm sorry. I really am. But a man is the sum of his memories, and I'm afraid Jack's have been ripped away from him in an attempt to make him less stubborn. He only has bits and pieces of his life now."

Jack couldn't see Gwen's face as her back was facing his cameras, but he could see her shoulders tense and start to shake. And Ianto... the look of loss and hurt on Ianto's face took him aback. Was Jack... was he someone important to Gwen and Ianto? He knew he could trust Ianto, but - Oh, why couldn't he remember? 

"Is there any way to recover it?" Ianto asked quietly from his chair, looking down at the console with a pained expression. "Things that are deleted from a computer aren't really gone, right?"

"There might be a way to reverse the damage, if the rovie bothered with making a backup." The Doctor stopped pacing to regard the machine that had put Jack in the computer thoughtfully. "I could see if there's anything I can find in the transference machine and the TARDIS databanks. Even then, I don't think he'll let me near enough to help. That rovie has tortured him so much that he can't tell friend from foe anymore." 

The Doctor shoved his hands his his pockets, barely checked anger returning to his voice. The impostor's reactions confused Jack more than anything. Why was he getting angry and sad over what had happened? He'd _abandoned_ Jack, hadn't he? Abandoned and now stealing his body and he'd attempted to erase more memories just now too. This didn't compute in the Gallifreyan code that he was forced to run his data through. It didn't make sense.

"Oh, Jack," Ianto said softly, barely loud enough for the transmitters to pick up. Wasn't there anything he could do to cheer Ianto up again? He liked that small smile from earlier, not this hurt and broken look. Searching through his databanks, Jack was more than frustrated to find nothing useful he could use. Too much had been deleted, been _stolen_ from him. But he could...

Carefully, Jack put a few words up on the screen. Just a small encouragement, he hoped. Ianto took notice, peering at the screen with a look of confusion on his face. "What is he doing with all those circles?"

The impostor looked up at the screen, reading the symbols that Jack belatedly realized weren't in English. He wasn't sure enough of what remained of his memory that he _could_ force it into English. The OS forced an over-write of his language systems and it was too strong for him to break. Thankfully, the Doctor translated. "I think he's trying to tell both of you to cheer up. Or he's offering to buy you a drink. Given what I know about Jack, it's probably both. That's an atrocious use of the intransitive verb, by the way."

Well, sorry for not knowing enough about Time Lord grammar! He'd been about to see how far his electric shock would reach when the Doctor started to laugh quietly to himself. "Extremely clever though. I'll have to remember that one."

If Jack was going to be called 'clever,' he might just forgive the Doctor for that one. Gwen was smiling lightly too, meaning it had worked to cheer them up a little. The impostor placed his hand on Ianto's shoulder comfortingly for a moment, smiling down at him. "He's right. We'll figure out some way to get him back to normal. Just keep talking to him and try to convince him we're here to help."

Ianto stroked the panel gently in such a way that Jack longed for a real body. He couldn't even remember how that felt, to have someone's hand running over his skin. Did that mean he wasn't actually real? No, that couldn't be right. Ianto and the others, they were calling him Jack, not the impostor, right?

"We'll get you back soon, Jack. You just have to trust us," Ianto said, his voice a little gruff. 

Jack hoped so. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up.

~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: I'm going to miss Jack as the computer. He was awfully fun to write. XD
> 
> Also, two quotes this time.
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> "Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest."  
> -Isaac Asimov 
> 
> "The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots."  
> -Fourth Doctor


	7. Chapter Seven

Every millisecond waiting for the Doctor was too long for Jack. Ianto and Gwen had just about managed to convince Jack to let the Doctor/impostor try to fix things. Unfortunately, the Doctor left the room after he'd gotten assurances of Jack's cooperation. Neither Gwen nor Ianto looked particularly worried, but it was taking so _long_. What if there were no other copies of his memories? What if he was just a program to begin with? Thoughts and questions whirled through his circuits as he gave a few agitated beeps.

The American and the Egyptian girls were chatting quietly with Gwen, though they all kept a sharp eye on Ianto, much to Ianto's own dismay. Under normal circumstances, Jack might have been amused by the whole thing, but he was too anxious and Ianto still looked so very pale. He really needed to be in bed, not constantly reassuring Jack, though Jack didn't know what he'd do without Ianto here. 

What was taking the Doctor so long?

Finally the Doctor walked in, dragging a very long extension cord behind him. "Did you find anything, Doctor?" the American girl asked as he walked by muttering to himself.

"Hm, yes. I think so, Peri," he said, looking vaguely annoyed at being interrupted from whatever he'd been thinking over. "Just like I thought, the machine created a backup."

"Then Jack will be back to normal?" Gwen asked, hope in her eyes. Hope that turned to concern the longer the Doctor took to answer her. "Doctor, will he be back to normal?"

"Yes, yes, he should be fine," the Doctor said testily. He paused for a moment, then sighed lightly. "Hopefully."

"Hopefully?" the Egyptian girl asked. "Doctor, that does not inspire a lot of confidence." 

No, it didn't. The fact that the Doctor was being vague didn't bode well either and the mistrust started to triple. "What do you mean-" she went on.

The Doctor cut her off, however, finding a quick scapegoat. "Ianto, how are you feeling?"

None of the women in the room would have let that go, except for the almost hazy look in Ianto's eyes. He paused before responding, as if it took him a moment to realize he was being spoken to, and that got all of their attention. The American girl moved over to Ianto as he spoke to help him steady the glass of water he'd been holding. "I'm... fine. Just a little dizzy. Did you find something to help Jack?"

Again, the Doctor grew uncomfortable, but this time didn't put off the inevitable. "I found another copy, yes, but it's only a partial file. Mostly it's his personality matrix, without the memories. And that's assuming Jack accepts the files as real and not part of some virus set to delete more of him or fakes." Did the Doctor have to say things like that? Now Jack was getting more paranoid that it might be a virus. 

"But if it's only a partial copy, will you be able to help him recover the rest?" the American with the big bust asked. It was the question on all of their minds and Jack's circuits. Every nano-second the Doctor paused felt like an eternity.

The Doctor was smiling reassuringly as he could, however, gently patting the girl on the back. "Ianto said it before. Nothing deleted is ever truly gone from a computer databanks, Peri. If Jack will allow me access, I'll see if I can't restore the memories that are still missing, though I can't promise it will work."

That was... a rather tricky proposition, truth to be told. Jack had tried just that several times and he wasn't sure if it was worth it to let the Doctor near what little files he had left. When the Doctor loaded the data from the partial copy from the machine and into a flash drive and pulled it from USB port, Jack wasn't thinking of the innuendos he could make. He wasn't going to access the file immediately, only poking his head out from the protected firewall to start running a virus check on it when the Doctor gave it to him. He started writing the program to check as the Doctor watched. "That's right," the Doctor encouraged quietly. "You can run as many checks as you like. There's nothing harmful in it, I promise. Just your personality matrix, completely untouched."

"You can trust the Doctor, Jack," Ianto joined in, looking pale... too pale. Way too pale. "Please... just..."

He fell forward as Jack started beeping in alarm. Thankfully, the American girl caught him before he hit the floor, helping him back up right in a way that gave Jack a nice view down her shirt. Even in his worry for Ianto, Jack couldn't help but think that it really was some very nice cleavage. 

"You should really be in bed," she said, stating what Jack thought was perfectly obvious.

Looking Ianto over for the millionth time, Jack made a quick decision that he would probably regret later. The longer he deliberated over the choice, the longer Ianto would be out of bed. Jack put up a hastily written message on the screen. 

The Doctor noticed it as the words came up, blue eyes glancing over it absently. "You know, grammar rules are meant to be followed. Didn't the rovie give you those?" the Time Lord said with mild annoyance. Jack made a quick reply about dirty grammar and being willing to take lessons if the Doctor gave them, using suggestive (and purposefully incorrect tenses to make the calligraphy look vulgar) language. 

At this, the Doctor's cheeks colored to a light pink as he sputtered. "Has anyone ever told you how incorrigible you are?" the Doctor asked as Jack let out a few bleeps of amusement. 

"What is he saying?" the Egyptian girl asked curiously, bringing the Doctor back to the original purpose of the message. 

"Right, yes..." the Doctor said, still a bit flustered in a way Jack privately thought was very cute, if slightly wrong in Jack's body. What he wouldn't give for his body back. "Jack was saying that Ianto should be in bed too and I'm quite willing to agree with him. Peri, would you - Ow!" The Doctor turned to glare at the monitor as Jack 'politely' tried to bring his attention to the bit of the message the Doctor had neglected to translate by highlighting it. "I am not repeating that to him," the Doctor said testily.

"It looks very dirty, whatever it is. Doctor, what did he say?" the Egyptian girl asked again, this time much more interested as Gwen chuckled lightly. 

Jack's efforts were rewarded as a bit of color returned to Ianto's cheeks; he failed to cover his embarrassment with his usual professional mask and a polite cough. "I think I can guess the gist of it," Ianto said, shaking his head. "Are you sure though? If we can't convince him..."

Jack quickly put another message up, earning him a nod and a small smile from the Doctor. "Quite right. Jack says he can wait, if that happens. With the storm averted, we have plenty of time for you to rest now."

This very obviously wasn't what Ianto wanted by the look of dismay on his face. He didn't put up a fuss as the two girls helped him back to the TARDIS, however, though he did turn back once, worry in his eyes as the girls hastened to reassure him.

It left him alone with the Doctor and Gwen as he nervously started filling out a file for the two girls to distract himself, putting in all of the information he had gleaned about them and their personalities with uncharacteristic neatness into his memory banks. Then, he slowly gathered what remained of his memories so that he could assess the damage. The result was very discouraging. 

Hesitantly, the Doctor reached out to the controls, the small flash drive in hand. Jack watched it with wary cameras, not taking his lens off the Doctor. Gwen moved to place a comforting hand on the console to make up for Ianto's absence, which Jack couldn't feel, but he appreciated regardless. He sent the light tickle sparks to her finger tips in thanks. "Oi, you. I'm a married woman, remember," she warned with a smile. 

"Alright," the Doctor said, holding the flash drive up to one of Jack's cameras so that he had a clear view. "This has the incomplete copy from the machine. Will you let me put it in your USB port?"

When there was no reply from the computer, the Doctor gingerly leaned in to find the USB port as Jack eyed it suspiciously. Not that he usually minded having phallic objects stuck in him, but right now... Well, even with his suspicion, he couldn't help making a beep of appreciation as it penetrated him. It was about as sensual as he could get as a computer and he'd take it. 

He started running tests almost as soon as his software recognized the device. No viruses or threats came up, however, so he tentatively started rummaging through the files. They weren't so much memories, but parts of his personality matrix. Even that was a welcome addition to what little he had left. After checking a few of the pre-existing files he still had left and comparing them, Jack couldn't find any changes. 

He had to take it on faith that the others were the deleted files and not something engineered by the Doctor or the rovie. He hesitated for a few seconds before bringing up the recorded file of Ianto promising that he could trust the Doctor. Trust. It was all he had left. Diving in, Jack didn't look back. 

It was an intense relief, to have the rest of his personality back. He felt more like himself and less like a computer. As his Doctor would say, it felt absolutely _brilliant_ and oh, how had he been able to live without this? 

His Doctor. Someone who abandoned him, yes, but who Jack still had complete faith and devotion to. The Doctor might have hurt him by leaving Jack behind all those years ago, but he'd never hurt Jack like the rovie had. How could he have forgotten that, something that was so vital to him that it wasn't a memory, but part of his personality matrix?

Ashamed of his earlier actions, Jack gave a few bleeps to draw the Doctor's attention up to the monitor, where he'd put up an apology. The Doctor looked up and smiled gently, patting the console with affection. "It wasn't your fault and no harm was done. I take it this means you trust me now?"

Jack sent the tickle sparks to the Doctor's fingers, signalling his acquiescence. That, and because he was always ready to flirt with the Doctor. 

Surprised, the Doctor sputtered for a few moments with a scandalized expression that looked so foreign on Jack's face. "Have I mentioned that you are incorrigible?" the Doctor asked in reproach, though Jack was fairly pleased to note the Doctor didn't actually move his hands away. Hm, he did like that... 

"What happens next, Doctor?" Gwen asked, attempting to stifle a giggle. 

"Now we try and get back the rest of Jack's memories. If you don't mind?" The latter sentence was directed at Jack, politely waiting for Jack to bring up the memories and other programs that might help. He did as asked, feeling nervous again despite his faith in the Doctor. What if nothing could be done for his memories? 

The Doctor's hands ran across his keyboard and... Oh. _Oh._ That felt good. Jack felt his systems hum softly as the Doctor rummaged through his databanks and was reminded of his earlier thought of how very good the Doctor was. It wasn't as fun as sex, but it was the best he could get and he wasn't going to complain. 

"Do you think it would be too late to tell him not to get any ideas?" the Doctor asked Gwen hopefully.

"He's already been there and back," Gwen said with a laugh. "In fact, he's probably ready for round two."

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "Best get to work then, before he starts to think I'm encouraging him."

* * *

Several hours later, Jack was feeling a lot more complete thanks to the Doctor's tireless administrations. He now knew who Gwen and Ianto were, why he was still so very dedicated and loyal to the Doctor and had millions of other memories and people restored. Relief washed through him with every new memory the Doctor found and slowly Jack felt like he was being put back together. He still had no idea how the Doctor ended up in his body, but he was well prepared to kiss the Time Lord senseless when he finally got back into it again. Which would lead to more adorable indignation on the Doctor's part. All the better, from Jack's point of view. 

By the time Peri and Erimem had set up the Doctor's body as comfortably as they could back in the chair Jack had originally found him in, Gwen was being directed by the Doctor to hook up some complicated looking wires. "I think that about does it," the Doctor said finally, looking up with a broad grin from the keyboard. "Is there anything you're missing? Run a diagnostic to see if there are any blatant holes."

It took him a few minutes to do a search and he found there were a few holes in his memories. Two years before he started traveling with the Doctor, a few days here and there, including two days in recent memory. Examining the memories around them proved that he had those holes before becoming a computer, however. Too bad the Doctor couldn't retrieve them as well...

He put an all clear up on the screen and waited impatiently for the Doctor to look up again. This was, Jack decided, a regeneration of the Doctor he could really get used to, because when the Doctor did finally look up to see the message, it was greeted with a smile that nearly made Jack's fans stop. He could only imagine the expression being all the more charming in the Doctor's proper body, all blond and cricket outfitted. 

With all his memories back, Jack couldn't help but imagine several things he could do and have done to him by the Doctor. These fantasies would probably have made even the most vulgar minded of the Doctor's regenerations' blush. Which wasn't saying much in the overall scheme of things considering how celibate the Doctor kept himself in some regenerations, but the fact remained.

"Ah, good. No problems then," the Doctor said, fiddling with a few wires and pulling back his fingers with a small yelp as they shocked him. Not Jack's fault this time, just the Doctor's own distraction. Shaking his hand a few times and muttering under his breath, the Doctor continued talking and only half paying attention to what he was doing, amusing Jack to no end. He was going to get shocked again if he didn't watch out. "When I hit this switch, it's going to connect you to the TARDIS. The old girl should - Ow! - should cushion the transference. You'll be put back into my body for the time being to make sure the transference of data is converted into neural synapses all work properly."

"I hope Jack understands what the Doctor's saying, because I don't," Peri said quietly to her friend, who giggled. 

Jack did understand quite well and was looking forward to connecting with the TARDIS. For all that the Doctor called her 'old' she was definitely a sexy piece of machinery. Besides, he did have a thing for older women who knew their way around the world and it was getting harder and harder to find _anyone_ who was older than him. 

Gwen announced calmly that everything was ready on her end and the Doctor didn't need to ask Jack if he were ready. His systems were already humming and ready to go. "Off with you then," he said quietly, flipping the switch and allowing Jack to move freely to the ship's databanks. It wasn't even a second before he ran into the TARDIS' intelligence. A warm voice that he would remember later as a blanket of light halted him. 

He asked as charmingly as he could if she wouldn't want to calculate some vectors and possibly move on to connecting servers after some pillow syntax? Jack felt her laugh, soft and musical and was politely pinged that her Time Lord was more than enough trouble for her. Besides, she was already enamored with someone else. Would he like to see a picture? He was _very_ handsome.

The last thing Jack remembered before blanking out was how very unamused the Doctor would be to find out that bit of information, though he himself couldn't stop laughing.

The next thing he knew was complete disorientation. He was in a body, but it wasn't _his_ body. He gasped lightly, finding that imperative body functions like breathing and keeping his heart beating were a completely different sort of sensation. No, not heart. _Hearts_. He had two hearts. And a whole new _sense_ , the sense of time. All of it, pressing at him like the cold ground when he'd been buried under Cardiff and threatening to suffocate him. It was only because of the strong will he'd learned to retain over the centuries that Jack didn't panic at the influx of the universe that he could suddenly _feel_ around him. It was still too much, too quickly, and he couldn't-

Cool fingers were placed on his temples and Jack felt a nauseating twist on all his senses that nearly caused him to black out again. Slowly though, the overwhelming sensations started to fade until they were more manageable. Strangely enough, the sick feeling didn't lessen until those fingers moved away and it was still there in the back of his mind. 

"Better?" he heard his own voice ask, but in the wrong accent. It was like listening to a recording of himself trying to talk with a British accent.

"Do you always feel like that?" he heard a surprisingly light - if a little raspy from dehydration - voice ask in an American accent. His voice, he realized with a start. Well, the voice that belonged to this body. The Doctor's, he remembered belatedly. And the Doctor was currently in his. 

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the Doctor said apologetically with a small chuckle. "Hopefully, I've managed to damper most of the effects for you. How are you feeling? All your memories there?"

"Better, and I think so," Jack said, opening his eyes for the first time. At least hearing and sight weren't much different, he realized with a bit of relief, though it felt like the colors were a little different. Looking over to where he'd heard his own voice, Jack found he had to look away again quickly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the massive time distortion that stood in front of him. That was where the sick feeling was coming from. "Is that how you see me?" he asked, finally able to meet his own blue eyes as they stared back at him sadly.

"Again, I'm afraid so." This time Jack looked away because of the revelation it was, not because of hurt. Was it any small wonder the Doctor had abandoned him? As if reading his thoughts, the Doctor let out a small breath that wasn't quite a sigh. "About what you put up on the screen, Jack, as to why you didn't trust me, I-"

"Don't," Jack said quietly. His memories of the time in the computer matrix were hazy, for which he was actually grateful, but he did remember that. He swallowed to wet his throat before continuing, closing his eyes. "You haven't even done it yet and... It doesn't matter much anymore." Which was a lie and they both knew it. However much the Doctor had hurt him though, it didn't change the fact Jack loved him regardless. Even if he never could forgive the Doctor entirely, he still loved him. It didn't really matter in the face of that love and the Doctor had invited him back after the Year.

The Doctor stayed quiet for a moment, his face unreadable. Then he smiled, though it didn't really reach his eyes. "I'm not sure if I deserve that loyalty, but I promise to do what I can to earn it." Then his expression changed to a slightly more impish grin. "And I'm fairly sure neither of us deserve _him_ , so you should take good care of him."

At first, Jack was confused. Then the Doctor nodded down to the left of the bed and Jack followed his gaze to a very pale Ianto Jones, fast asleep with his head on his hands as he leaned over the bed. _Ianto_. Jack had been too disoriented with the influx of new sensations to sort out the sounds he had been hearing, but now he realized it had been Ianto's soft snoring. His smile softened and with great fondness Jack ruffled Ianto's hair, his hand lingering and tracing that too pale cheekbone. "He should be in bed," he said, wondering how their conversation hadn't woken Ianto up. Ianto wasn't a light sleeper by any means, but they hadn't exactly been quiet in their conversation.

"We told him that," the Doctor said amiably, sticking his hands in his pockets with a carefree air about him that didn't match Jack's body. "Several times, in fact. He was very persistent and it must have worn him out. That, and the sleeping pill Gwen slipped into his tea. Quite clever of her actually, to let him stay here while making sure he got some rest."

It was somewhat reassuring to Jack to know that no matter what body the Doctor was in, he was still ever so good at babbling. He did it much more calmly in this regeneration, but it was still babbling. At least it told him what he needed to know and a broad grin unlike the Doctor's usual pleasant expression crossed his face. Swinging his feet over the side of the bed (Stripped trousers? Really, Doctor?), Jack very carefully started pulling Ianto onto the bed. 

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked, moving to assist though he didn't know the purpose of the movement.

"Ianto needs to be in bed," Jack said simply. "And there's a nice, big one right here."

"You shouldn't be out and about yet either," the Doctor half-scolded, but he helped with Ianto's legs and between them they were able to get Ianto up on the bed without much jarring. Ianto slept through it, oblivious to both of them.

Speaking of oblivious... Jack attempted not to laugh as he pulled off Ianto's shoes then slid right back under the covers. "Who said I had any plans of getting up?" he asked, curling around his lover with his current unfamiliar body as the Doctor sputtered. Oh, he was going to have to do this when the Doctor was in his proper body, because seeing the blush on the Doctor's real face would be gorgeous. 

"That's not your body!"

"Nope." 

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all." Jack was only more amused at the flush on his cheeks as the Doctor sputtered on, wrapping his arm across Ianto's waist with a lazy possessiveness. "Don't worry, Doctor. I doubt Ianto would feel comfortable with anything you're thinking I might try right now. Besides, he's still wounded. But I've spent over a week without a physical body and... I just want to feel again."

At that, the Doctor sighed with good-natured resignation. "I suppose I can't argue with that. I'd appreciate if you didn't tell me what you were thinking, however, because I know you considered it."

"Hm, you could always join us? It'd be a bit tight, but I'm sure we could fit one more in this bed."

This time the Doctor laughed, moving to the door as he shook his head. "Goodnight, Jack," he said firmly, booking no arguments. "And... Welcome back."

Welcome back. Oh, it was good to _feel_ again. And once the Doctor had left the room, it was much easier to relax. He'd gotten used to the warped sensation prickling at his senses, but that didn't mean it wasn't easier without the wrong feeling constantly plaguing him. It hurt when the Doctor had called him 'wrong,' but now he could certainly see why. That didn't make things better between him and the Doctor, but Jack could understand now. It was still unnerving anyway, not only with the warped sense of time, but seeing his own body across from him up and moving about.

Curling around Ianto, Jack pushed those thoughts away to simply revel in having an actual body back, even if it wasn't his. The touch of Ianto's skin against his hand, the light breath against his neck, the... the feel of Ianto's mind? Hesitantly, Jack reached out with his new found ability to brush against Ianto's sleeping conscious. He got a sense of warm browns, like coffee and dark chocolate, rich and soft to the touch. 

Wow. That was addictive. Better judgement won out, however, due to the fact he didn't have Ianto's permission or a firm control over the ability to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt Ianto, which was the last thing he wanted after all Ianto had been through. Beside him, Ianto stirred drowsily, perhaps from the light mental touch. He murmured something incomprehensible as he blinked, not really seeing. "Jack?"

Jack smiled as he pulled Ianto closer, lightly touching his forehead with a kiss. "I'm here," he said quietly. Ianto took that as a cue to nuzzle sleepily at his neck as his arms wrapped around Jack in return. "Go back to sleep, Ianto. I'm not going anywhere."

There was a slurred affirmative before Ianto fell back into whatever dream he'd been having, content to be snuggled up to Jack. The immortal let out a low chuckle at that, resting his head against Ianto's as he quietly started to check through his memories to make sure they were all in place. It was a nice feeling, Ianto's hair tickling his chin, and Jack wouldn't have given it up for the world.

* * *

Ianto didn't remember his dreams when he woke, just a warm sense of happiness he got from waking up with Jack's arms around him. It was a luxurious feeling and he greedily curled up against his lover to soak it up. He had missed this, needing it desperately after everything that had happened and though Ianto wasn't an overly affectionate man by nature, being close to Jack was like no other feeling on the planet. 

Something was off though. For one thing, Jack didn't smell right. It was a nice scent, no mistake, but it was a fresh sort of smell that reminded Ianto vaguely of peppermint and cloves. However lovely it was, it wasn't Jack's fifty-first century pheromones. And though Jack's arms fell around him exactly the way his lover liked to hold him, Jack's body felt... odd. Different. A bit smaller, maybe?

Blinking drowsily, Ianto opened his eyes to see a blond haired stranger snuggled up against him. Ianto jumped, attempting to move away as the stranger's eyes flew open, more than just a little freaked out that he'd woken up next to a complete stranger. Ianto jarred his shoulder as he did so, pain erasing any thoughts of getting away.

"Easy, Ianto," a light voice said next to him. An American accent? Who... and how did they know his name? "Easy. It's me, Jack. I'm still in the Doctor's body, remember?"

Well, yes. Now that he mentioned it, Ianto did remember waking up and insisting on being brought in to where Jack was sleeping, in that strange blond body the Doctor said was his. Still wearing the cricket outfit even, as if the TARDIS didn't have any bed clothes. Which Ianto was positive wasn't the case, after seeing that huge wardrobe and finding a simple button up shirt and jeans he could wear, what with his suit having a rather large knife hole in it. 

"Jack?" he asked uncertainly as he hesitatingly reached up to that flop of blond hair.

The man grinned with an expression that Ianto had _missed_ for the past week and a half on Jack's face. "The one and only," he said before leaning in to kiss Ianto deeply. Any and all doubts he had about this not being Jack were erased after five seconds. Oh, this was Jack alright. Different mouth, same kiss and how he had needed this. Jack was pulling him closer and Ianto responded by straddling Jack. Ianto pushed him back into the pillows with the force of his need and Jack was only too willing to oblige. 

It wasn't until there was a small shriek at the door that Ianto realized they clearly weren't in a private place.

"Sorry!" Peri cried out as she turned her back. "I didn't see anything!" It didn't really matter if she had her back turned, because they were both clothed and Ianto was rapidly moving off Jack, but it had been a more than risque enough position to warrant a blush. Next time he had to remember to make sure the door was locked...

Jack, who was completely unfazed by the interruption, chuckled lightly. His arm snuck around Ianto's waist to keep him from pulling away completely. "Peri, isn't it? I'm sure we can make room for you, if you'd like to join us."

"No thanks," she chirped quickly, muttering something about how the Doctor had warned her he might say something like that. She continued on nervously, a light sing-song quality to her voice. "Don't mind me. I was just coming in to see if you needed anything. I'll leave now and tell the Doctor you're both... um, feeling better."

Before she could quit the room, the Doctor walked in looking winded, just like as if he'd been running. "No need," he said, looking perfectly furious at the whole arrangement, but managing to keep a polite, if biting tone. "I would kindly like to remind you that you are only borrowing that body, Jack."

Ianto flushed, realizing that perhaps he should have been a bit more respectful of the Doctor's body, but Jack merely laughed. "It's a shame you don't use this body more, Doctor. I could think of dozens of things we could-"

"Let's stop right there, shall we?" the Doctor interrupted, looking very unamused. "Since the neural synapses have obviously reconnected without any major harm, why don't we both get back to our proper bodies now and you can... continue later."

"You sure we can't continue now?" Jack asked, pouting.

Shaking his head lightly, Ianto was decidedly glad to have Jack back.

~TBC~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: One more chapter, and it's just an epilogue really. 
> 
> Two quotes again! This time on memory, for Jack. 
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> "Memory feeds imagination."  
> -Amy Tan
> 
> "[Memory is] a man's real possession...In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor."  
> -Alexander Smith


	8. Epilogue

Using the machine Ianto and the Doctor had made, it was an easy process to switch the two men back into their proper bodies. It was swift and painless, despite the headache Jack had upon waking up in his proper body. "That's my fault, I'm afraid," the Doctor said with regret. "I tried to dim my thoughts so it wouldn't burn out your brain, but there was only so much-"

Jack waved him off, wincing at the movement before putting on a slightly more pained version of his usual smile. "It'll heal. I've got more to thank you for. I'm just glad to be back."

The Doctor was equally pleased to be in his own body, fiddling with the celery pinned to his lapel with great pleasure. "I suppose we should be off then. Don't want to mess with the time lines any more than we already have, though I'll admit I'm looking forward to properly meeting you all in... which me did you meet?"

"Tall, thin, gorgeous hair," Gwen prompted, obviously very knowledgeable about the subject despite only having met the man once. "Pinstripe suit."

"Nice ass," Jack added. "Though I met the one before that too."

The Doctor frowned, then winced, though it wasn't at Jack's statement. "Oh, no," the Doctor said, looking quite pained. "Not that skinny, babbling idiot who forgot to put his shields up. I'm assuming the coarse Northern fellow with the big ears is the one you're talking about, Jack."

Ianto had to hide a small laugh as Jack only grinned. "The one and the same on both accounts."

"Then I'm afraid you haven't met me at my best. Still, no use for it and you've met me now," the Doctor said with a sigh. "At least it wasn't the one who comes after me with that atrocious coat. I can't even begin to imagine what I'll be thinking."

While Ianto was contemplating the certain type of egoism that it would take to believe each current regeneration was better than the others, Gwen moved forward with her hand held out to the Doctor. "I think I'll miss having you around. Are you sure you won't stick around for a while longer, Doctor?" she asked as he took her hand with a firm shake.

"Unfortunately, I really must dash. I promised to take Peri and Erimem to see the emerald caves of Ramora, though..." the Doctor looked a mixture between wistful and impish as he glanced around at the three of them. "I wouldn't mind a few extra travelers, especially if it means more of Ianto's coffee."

Ianto was oddly touched by the invitation, though he was more than a little glad when Jack's arm wrapped around him possessively as he laughed. "Trying to steal my team, Doctor?" Jack asked, looping his other arm around Gwen.

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets, grinning boyishly. "Can you blame me for trying?"

Following Jack's proud negative, Ianto carefully detached himself from the immortal to give his own farewell. He technically should be in bed still, but he'd been going stir crazy the past few days when his bed rest had been enforced and he was rather worried for the state of the Hub while Peri and Erimem had filled in for him. Though, in retrospect, he really hadn't been too put out when Jack, Gwen and the Doctor had returned from an emergency covered in purple slime from an over excitable Galpradin bird. The Doctor promised to return it to its home planet a few star systems over, but not before it had slimed all of them in gratitude. Still, Ianto was glad to be back on his feet again.

The Doctor took his offered hand with a fond smile and Ianto shyly returned it. "Good-bye, Doctor," he said awkwardly, feeling like he should say something else, but unable to think of anything.

"Take care of yourself, Ianto," the Doctor said, clasping his arm with a friendly pat.

Ianto nodded, stepping back as Jack moved forward to claim his farewell. Instead of taking the Doctor's offered hand, however, Ianto wasn't at all surprised to see Jack pulling the Time Lord against him for a deep kiss that lasted a good fifteen seconds before Peri whistled. She and Erimem came up to join them. "To show my appreciation for the rescue," Jack said, pulling away from the stern looking (though secretly amused, if Ianto were reading the expression right) Doctor. "It's too bad you won't stick around. I could get used to this regeneration."

The Doctor was about to speak, but a small indignant squeak came out of his mouth instead, followed by a glare of reproach at Jack's hand as it retreated from his backside. "I think it's time for us to leave," he said after a polite cough, putting some obvious distance between him and the leader of Torchwood as the others laughed.

Further good-byes to Peri and Erimem were said. Before the Doctor went back into the TARDIS though, Jack called him back one more time. "The TARDIS did have one request."

"The TARDIS?" the Doctor asked, mildly surprised as he stuck his head back out, brushing away some of the fringe that flopped into his eyes. "Really? Was this when you were connected to her?" A look of almost jealousy entered the Doctor's eyes, but he quickly covered it. "What did the old girl say?"

"Well, not so much of a request, really, but I think she'd appreciate it," Jack said, a wicked grin crossing his features that put all of them on guard. "I'm sure she'd like it if you went to visit her crush every so often."

"The TARDIS has a crush on someone?" Peri asked.

"The TARDIS wants to crush someone?" Erimem asked, gaining her a laugh and an explanation of the slang term from Peri. "Oh, I see. The TARDIS has a secret sweetheart. Who is it?"

Jack drew out the suspense as long as he could looking altogether far too pleased with himself. "She's apparently very infatuated with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. She's even got a collection of pictures of him in her databanks to swoon over while you're off and about."

"She what?" The Doctor sputtered, though the name didn't seem to mean anything to anyone else. The Time Lord turned to face the blue box with indignation colored with jealousy he didn't bother to hide this time. "The Brigadier? What is she thinking if - well, I suppose that does explain the incident with the garbage bin. Still, the Brigadier?"

Erimem pushed the still sputtering Doctor inside the TARDIS after a small wave and the police box soon faded from sight once all of its passengers were on board. The distinctive sound of the TARDIS dematerializing was one Ianto didn't think he could ever forget.

"Okay," Jack said, smugly crossing his arms across his chest. "Back to work for us. Gwen, I want that report for UNIT on my desk at the end of the day. Ianto, I need you to do a cover story for the bird sighting. Also, more coffee?" The latter came out as a half plea, causing both of them to laugh as they walked back to the Hub.

That night as Ianto lay in bed with Jack after some _brilliant_ sex, he decided traveling with the Doctor would have been nice. But he wasn't going to give up Jack for all the worlds in the universe.

~Fin~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: Well, there you have it. I hope that everyone enjoyed the ride! I know it was a little bumpy at times, but I never leave a fic unfinished. It's always satisfying and a little sad when I end a long fic, but hopefully you all had as much fun as I did.
> 
> I leave you with a quote about the TARDIS, because where would we be without her?
> 
> Quote of the chapter:
> 
> "That is the dematerizing control and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it. Sheer poetry, dear boy. Now, please stop bothering me."  
> -The First Doctor


End file.
